


truths i’ve yet to find

by atlas_oulast



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Scientists, Character Death, Depression, Eating Disorders, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff & Angst, For the DEH Big Bang!!, Future, Heavy Angst, High-Functioning Anxiety, Hurt/No Comfort, Idk what to call this au, Implied Sexual Content, Murder, Sleep Deprivation, Submarines, alana-centric, but that’s not quite it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-13 11:16:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18030695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlas_oulast/pseuds/atlas_oulast
Summary: Illustrations in all chapters!It’s the year 3026. America is now the United Corporation of Planets, and one hundred sixty nine years ago, a research facility in a cylinder shape called the Ainsley Smith was launched to research the large ocean on Yukal, or Planet XXO2, which had been mostly unexplored. The scientists onboard would be isolated from society for twelve generations, producing offspring and training them to fill their positions when they die.But there’s always a complication, right? Because now, well into the project, after a plague and a series of murders, there’s exactly ten people onboard, when there were once a thousand.This has some complications, like a tiny dating pool and the ability to know who you’re gonna have sex with one day, a relationship between the only two eligible girls on the ship that was doomed from the beginning, Alana Beck slowly killing herself while investigating some historical inaccuracies in what they’re being taught, and the casual wonderings of WHY they had to be on this stinking ship in the first place, and why they had to be isolated from society.Just the normal stuff.





	1. one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the dehbigbang!!!!!!! i was made a FANTABULOUS cover by @ifyougiveagirlapencil on tumblr, and she’ll be doing a series of pre-chapter illustrations as i release chapters.... yeah holy crap!! also thank her for convincing me to cut this into manageable chapters, beforehand it was all one chunk and a pain to get through (and this whole thing is 20+ thousand words so... yeah thank her twice)
> 
> tws for eating disorder, depression, lack of sleep, mentioned deaths, murders, and illnesses

 

 

One hundred seventy-eight years ago, the idea was pitched in the Senate. A research facility, set out on the ocean, that could act as a boat, drift, or sink safely like a submarine.

It would be in the shape of a cylinder, and home to hundreds of scientists for at least ten generations, all researching the oceans, namely that of Planet XX02, or Yukal, whose ocean was even larger and deeper than that of the Planet 0001, or Earth.

Yukal had been added to the United Corporation of Planets almost a hundred Earth years ago, but it's oceans were still mostly a mystery. If the project was a success on Yukal, it could be performed on other Planets.

One hundred seventy-seven years ago, work began on building the facility.

One hundred seventy-four years ago, interviews began for potential scientists for the facility. All of the scientists interviewed were specialists in marine biology, ocean life, and other forms of ocean related science.

One hundred seventy-two years ago, the team of scientists were chosen, as well as fifty teachers, a team of doctors, surgeons, nurses, and pharmacists, a hundred farmers, and ten couples to produce children, in order to make the next generation of scientists, and fifty-six children between ages 0 and 7, to be trained by the scientists and teachers, along with the children to come, all in order to keep the project going, and two hundred workers for various other jobs, such as maintenance.

All in all, there were over eight hundred people to make up the gift generation of this massive project.

One hundred seventy years ago, the facility finished construction. While being built, it had been fondly nicknamed the Ainsley Smith, after the charming and wonderful First Lady of the CEO of the United Corporation of Planets, who devoted her life to making life better for citizens of the corporation.

There had also been a bet, since the election for next CEO, held every ten years, was this year, and Ainsley had run. If her opponent, the equally popular Grace Wilbert Wilkins, had won, they agreed, the facility would be renamed the Grace Wilbert Wilkins. However, Grace was defeated by a small margin, so the Ainsley Smith it remained.

One hundred sixty-nine years ago, the Ainsley Smith offically left port in the capital city of Yukal, Jaqart. It was not to return for two hundred fifty years.

The Ainsley Smith was over two hundred feet tall, and had thirteen floors.

Floors One and Two were for the research, complete with transparent walls, along with transparent floors and ceiling for Floor One, to study the creatures and ocean with.

Floor One also featured a water-lock hatch that divers could use to be lowered into the cold ocean, and places on Floor Two without the clear walls where were most of the equipment was stored.

Floors Three and Four were labs, the Floor Three one for the ocean scientists, and the Floor Four laboratory for the doctors and pharmacists onboard.

Floors Five and Six were cabins, living spaces, for each and every inhabitant.

Floor Seven was entertainment for three entire population, complete with theatres, game rooms, gyms loaded with excercise equipment, and more.

Floors Eight and Nine made up the infirmary, obviously where the medical team worked most of the time.

Floors Ten and Eleven were the farming floors, complete with artificial weather, real soil, and plenty of real plants, transported from several different Planets, to grow food from.

Floor Twelve was the waste and sanitation floor. Human waste made up 70% of the substances, but there were also used food containers to wash, medical tools to wash and sanitise.

Floor Thirteen was the above-water observatory. Just like floors One and Two with the transparent walls and ceiling.

All in all, life was good on the Ainsley Smith. Discoveries were made nearly every day, schooling was good, people were content. The second generation was born, and they were happy, and diligent learners. More generations came, all perfect.

Until the Virus began.

It could be traced back to Day 11 of Month Aprilis, sixty-four years ago.

That day, there was the discovery of some kind of underwater virus that was killing animals with reckless abandon. Scientists began tentatively studying it.

On Day 19, of the same month, a leak was reported from the water-lock hatch. It was quickly repaired.

On Day 24, a little girl, only four years old, named Elise Strepp, was rushed to the infirmary. Seriously ill, she had been throwing up violently all the previously day, and was now fading in and out of consciousness.

On Day 25, Elise died, and three people with the same symptoms came to the infirmary. None of them lasted the night.

By Day 30, forty-five people, including Elise, of course, were dead, with more still hospitalised.

On Day 03 of Month Maius, scientist Heather Van Ness figured out that the illness was the underwater virus, and she, along with partner Elizabeth Cohen, began making a joint vaccine/antidote.

On Day 27, the vaccine/antidote was compete, but over five hundred people were dead. The vaccine did little more than slow the virus, it was found, and by the time the last case of the virus onboard disappeared, there were only about three hundred people remaining.

And suddenly, on Day 15 of Month Junus, a riot broke out on Floor Seven. Enraged survivors, largely parents who'd lost children, tried to storm Floor Four, where Heather and Elizabeth were, shouting for the return of their children, their family members.

On Day 17, the blockade of surviving scientists and furniture was penetrated, and the rioters captured Heather and Elizabeth.

On Day 19, they were publicly executed, and counterprotests broke out. Though it is unclear how, people began ruthlessly murdering others, regardless of what side they were on.

On Day 29 of Month Augustus, the final murderer died. The only survivors? Ninteen people, sixteen of whom who were couples, fifteen of whom who had survived the virus, all of whom who had hidden out in a storage room on Floor Ten. They emerged to clean up the mess, and they began having children, in hopes of restoring the society that had just died.

On Day 11 of Month Junus, almost a full year since the first riots, a little girl was born. Her name was Heidi Hansen, and she was born blind.

From there through the end of Month Octobre, eight children were born, all with birth defects, but a medicine was soon thereafter developed by Yolanda Beck, mother of George Beck, to prevent their future grandchildren from those birth defects.

Life on the Ainsley Smith continued as normally as possible, considering the circumstances. The children were schooled, now by the computers and technology of the ship. Research for the ocean was continued. The inhabitants were determined to keep the Ainsley Smith going.

But their struggle, as it turned out, was in vain.

-

Alana Beck was awake.

Alana Beck, as it seemed, was always awake. Working on schoolwork. Extra reading up on her future role of marine biologist, which she would assume on her twenty-first birthday, replacing her late mother. Always dressed in blue scrubs and a white lab coat, front pocket holding a tuft of red strings, all contrasting to her brown skin and ponytail of long, thin black braids, her round glasses resting perpetually low on her nose, forcing her to be pushing them up almost constantly.

But this time, Alana Beck wasn't studying.

She was standing in front of a magnetic board, absolutely covered in pictures, news articles, maps, numbers, notes, all printed out on paper, held up by magnets, and a web of red string connected each and every object, just like in the very, very old movies that they sometimes watched.

The string had been pulled out of an old sweater of Connor Murphy's. He'd thrown it out, saying it was itchy and didn't fit right, but she'd recovered it and unwoven it.

As she stood there, in front of the board, she studied it intently. Almost a full month of work on this project, something nobody knew about, and so far, it was leading nowhere.

Well, nobody knew about it until about three seconds ago.

"Alana?" A small, consciously quiet voice echoed in the small room, and the girl whipped around, instinctively grabbing and flipping out her pocket knife that hunt at her side, braids hitting her back harshly as they settled.

A girl, light-sknned and on the shorter side, stood in the doorway, her caramel-brown hair illuminated by the dim light of the room, her pale blue eyes lit by a different kind of light. She wore nothing but the simple white sleeping smock each of them owned.

"Zoe," Alana sighed, flipping the knife closed. "Zoe, what're you doing up? We have a test tomorrow, you know."

"I could ask the same of you," Zoe pointed out. "When's the last time you slept?"

"Exactly four days, twenty-two hours, eleven minutes, and thirty-four seconds," Alana stated.

"Exactly! You're supposed to sleep eight hours a night. Everyone knows that."

"Well, I've been following a trail the past couple days, I didn't want to disrupt my momentum more than I needed to."

"Hey, what're you doing, anyway?"

"Well... it's complicated. I'm not entirely sure I understand myself, what I'm doing."

Zoe crossed the room and touched Alana's wrist gently through the white lab coat the girl was wearing. "Alana. Why're you loosing sleep over things you don't fully understand?"

"Because I want to understand it."

"Well, have you made much progress lately? Namely, the past four days, eleven hours?"

"Not much. The trail I was following ended up being a dead end. I'm coming back to the drawing board and trying to figure out my next move."

Zoe loosely wrapped her arms around the taller girl's middle, sending butterflies to Alana's stomach. "Then, for the love of Pete, go to sleep."

"It's not that easy," Alana said.

Zoe tightened her grip ever so slightly. "Come back to my cabin. Leave the theory making and detective work... or whatever you're doing... leave it for tomorrow. We have so much time on the Ainsley Smith, Alana, you have plenty of time."

"That's exactly what I'm not quite sure of," Alana murmured.

"What'd you say? I didn't hear," Zoe asked, craning her head from where it had been resting on Alana's back to look around the side of the girl and up to meet her gaze.

"Nothing. Let's go back to your cabin, then."

Zoe opened her mouth to protest, then closed it, then sighed. "Alright, then, as long as you'll sleep," she said, unwrapping her arms and instead taking Alana's hand in hers, leading her out the room, down the hall to the elevator, and when it reached Floor Five, down another hall, to cabin T19.

Most of the cabins used to be inhabited, but of course, after the Virus and subsequent Murders, barely any cabins were ever occupied.

Zoe used the plastic card in her unoccupied hand to unlock the door, holding it against the sensor until it turned green.

The room was dark, lit only by a thin, dim nightlight on one wall, but you could make out shapes of things, drawings that Zoe had done over the years attached to the walls, photographs of her, Connor, Alana, and her parents.

A bedside table held a few mechanical odds and ends that Alana had been messing around with the previous day, and a desk in the corner, tilted upwards, had a giant map of Yukal, with small figurines representing the Ainsley Smith and another for Control Center. A ruler lined the edges of the desk, and the parts not covered by the map were dry erase board. Some markers on magnets, an eraser next to them, on a bit of the free space. A shirt of Zoe’s was draped over an upper corner of the desk, and the chair was parked several feet away from the desk, a box of papers occupying the seat.

Once inside, Zoe didn't bother turning on any more lights, instead softly shutting the door and gently stripping Alana of her lab coat, discarding it on the floor, and then her belt, where her own key card, and a few pens and spare mechanical parts. Electrical cords and bits of metal, mostly.

This, too, was thrown on the floor, and her pocket knife was placed on the bedside table, and then the girls embraced each other, Zoe gently moving them to the bed, where they broke apart and laid down.

As an afterthought, Zoe sat back up and leaned over Alana, removing her glasses gently with a soft smile, barely seen in the dim light produced with the star shaped nightlight from across the room.

The glasses were set on Zoe's nightstand with the knife, and finally, the girl could wrap her arms back around her companion, burying her face in her hair, the other one doing the same.

And so, they laid there, taking in the smells and pent up stresses of late, breathing then out. The only time they really, truly felt safe was in the embrace of the other.

And finally, now fully relaxed, Alana drifted off to sleep.

Or, so Zoe thought.

Because once Alana was positive the other girl was asleep, she unwrapped her arms and carefully rolled out of bed, grabbing her glasses and knife, putting her belt and lab coat back on, checking the front pocket to make sure the tuff of red string was still there, and when it was, she silently left the room.

Alana Beck was awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now at this point if you know me you’re prepared to wait 3 months for another chapter but it’s actually already all done! we’ll hopefully be on a posting schedule (!!!!) so see you in less than three months!!


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> concern; tiredness; and a fucking from alana beck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooo chapter two! yay! nobody’s reading this but here it is anyway!
> 
> also chapter one has the beginning of chapter illustration now so!!! yay!!! this chapter does as well but go check out chapter one’s art because it’s great!

 

Zoe Murphy was concerned.

Zoe Murphy was nearly always concerned, but it wasn't her fault.

There were only five kids in her generation, and they were all older than her by a year. Her parents had wanted to wait a bit, see how Connor developed, before finally having her.

And of those five kids, even though they were all older than her... well, most of them sure didn't act like they were older than her.

Or, well, Jared didn't.

And Evan... Evan simply gave cause to worry, but in other ways. He was smaller than all of them, having been born too early, he stuttered, he seemed to have no self confidence... so Zoe, being something of an inner mother hen, was concerned.

Then there was her brother, Connor. He was almost constantly angry, he screamed, he banged on things... they didn't have much of a relationship, and even though Zoe didn't really like him, she was still concerned for what was going on in his head, just like with Evan. Just in a different way.

And then, of course, there was Alana. Smart, bright, and truly devoted to her future job, as well as preserving the memory of her late parents and grandparents, despite having barely known her grandparents. Her grandmother had developed the medicine that saved them from birth defects, so she was a pretty important historical figure.

But she worked too hard, especially recently with this mysterious project, often staying awake days at a time. Zoe's mom, Cynthia, was in charge of tracking the food that was eaten and grown, and she knew for a fact Alana tampered with the reports every week, because she barely ate, and she didn't want Cynthia on her case.

Alana probably loved her, too, but that part was still a little unclear, seeing as the two of them needed to have some sort of conversation about their relationship. Because they weren't offically dating or anything, but they sure did act like it.

At least, Jared sure seemed to think so. And unfortunately, he was right.

Zoe loved Alana. But did she love her back?

Zoe figured Alana was probably having similar thoughts, but what did it matter at this point? Until they talked about it, it was going to stay that way. And with Alana's sleeping habits, it didn't seem like it would be happening anytime soon.

So, if Zoe wasn't concerned before, when she woke the next morning to find Alana's side of the bed empty and cold, she was now.

Tracking down Alana was simple. Of course, she was in the room that she was working in the previous night. Or had it been morning by that time? She wasn't sure.

Alana looked slightly worse than the night before, the dark circles under her eyes somewhat expanded, making her eyes appear sunken. Which was creepy, really creepy.

She didn't notice Zoe in there for awhile, taking a new piece of paper that had a string of seemingly unrelated numbers on it, using a magnet to hold it up on the far right corner of the magnet board, then taking a new red string from her breast pocket, and trying it to a short one hanging from the board, then connecting it to the new piece of paper.

"I just don't understand!" Alana said, stepping back to study the full board. For a moment, Zoe thought it was directed at her, but just as she was about to ask what she didn't understand, she realised the taller girl was talking to herself.

"How is it, then, that we haven’t heard anything about it? Why hasn't anyone said anything? Why are we still working?"

"Alana, please, I'm worried about you," Zoe said. Of course, Alana again whipped out her knife, but returned it to her belt when she saw it was only her. Even if she'd known it was only Zoe, she tended to not trust anything but her vision, so she always whipped out her knife.

"Zoe, I'm sorry about sneaking out. I just... this is important."

"It can't be that important, Alana. Take a nap or something before we have to go take that test, because otherwise you'll be so tired that you won't be able to focus."

"Not sleeping is when I focus best," Alana protested.

"So that's why you're staying up?" Zoe snapped.

Alana looked... scared. She opened her mouth to protest, but Zoe opened hers quicker.

"No, I'm talking, Alana. I tend to wonder, is this really such a big, huge important project, or is it just an excuse to stay up for no reason? You won't even tell me what it is, anyway."

"Zoe, it's important. It really is. The whole Ainsley Smith, the whole mission depends on this."

"Yeah, so it depends on you staying up, being unhealthy, for no good reason? For all of your excercise and talk about being healthy, you never eat, you never sleep! And it's not... I know you mess worry my mom's reports. When's the last time you actually ate, Alana, huh? Tell me."

Alana hesitated, and Zoe noticed.

"See, you won't even tell me that. How can I be in a relationship with you when you keep these kinds of secrets from me? Relationships are built on trust, Alana. Bit it don't trust you. I don't trust you to eat. I don't trust you to sleep. So how do I know that this relationship is real?"

"Zoe, you know I love you. That's real."

"Sure. Maybe you love me. Or, at least, you think you do. But you're so focused on this... this quote unquote project, and not on me. Or yourself, for that matter. Or, furthermore, this relationship."

"Oh, Zoe."

"Don't 'oh Zoe' me! Alana, as much as I love you, I can't stay with you if you won't take a break."

"Zoe, I don't think you understand. There are lives at risk here. Your life. My life. It's worth sacrificing a bit of sleep over, trust me."

"Tell me, then. Tell me what the project is, and how you're trying to save my life or whatever."

And so, Alana told her.

Zoe emerged wide-eyed and pale, but she also emerged with an Alana, who agreed to actually sleep a couple hours this time.

Zoe Murphy, as it seemed, was always concerned.

For Alana? Yes. But that wasn't the main thing now. It was what Alana had told her.

Zoe Murphy was concerned.

-

Connor Murphy was tired.

Connor Murphy, as it seemed, was always tired, in a way. Tired, like in need of sleep tired, and tired of the world tired. He also had a short temper, but that was something he tried - and failed - to control.

In the schoolroom, he noticed that Alana, usually chipper and cheery, was obviously exhausted out of her mind and totally out of it, even almost falling asleep during the test.

Well, even if it was totally out of character for her, he didn't care. Frankly, all it was was someone feeling his constant pain.

But during break, Alana didn't talk to his sister animatedly, and occasionally also Jared and/or Evan, she left the room entirely, and came back two minutes late. Human teachers were phased out a couple decades ago in favour of technology taking up the job, but the system sure did give Alana some stern computerised words.

At least it wasn't him, for once.

As much as he honestly didn't care for or about Alana, his sister was quiet and somewhat lethargic the whole day, and didn't talk to Alana, which really set him off, because the two girls were usually all over each other. It was disgusting.

But as much as he hated to admit it, then ignoring each other was worse. It wasn't like they were casting each other longing glances, at least.

Scratch that. Zoe just sent one Alana's way.

So, what would a big brother who barely ever interacted with either of them, especially Zoe, do?

Nothing.

Well, he at least tried to do nothing. But the universe seemed to hate him, so they sent a new conscience to hound him.

And, meanwhile, Kleinman figured out something was up, too, only pushing Connor closer to the edge.

"So, Murph," he drawled, sitting down on the edge of Zoe's desktop, during a ten minute break.

"Not in the mood, Jared," Zoe said, not looking up from what she was looking at, which was the floor.

"What happened between you and your girlfriend, huh? The longing gay glances are grosser than feeling each other's boobs every ten seconds," Jared continued, not taking the oh so subtle hint from Zoe.

"Oh, just go away," Zoe said, though Connor could tell, even from all the way across the room, her cheeks turned pink.

"No, tell me what happened. Miss Alana's been naughty, huh? Or maybe... maybe it's you who's facing a kinky whipping in the bedroom tonight."

Zoe looked up, finally, and lunged at Jared. Connor figured she would beat him up - she was a lot stronger than she looked, he knew that firsthand - but instead, she pressed her lips to his and then shoved him to the ground, generating a satisfying bang as the kid's head hit the ground.

"Fuck off, Kleinman," Zoe said, and just as he was getting up, she flung at Alana and pressed a kiss, a genuine one, to her lips. Oh, and now there was a tongue involved. Two tongues. Ew.

And what could Jared - and Connor - do but watch?

Zoe was a lot less lethargic after that, and whatever she and Zoe had been going through together, it seemed to have been solved, and if the kiss and change in Zoe's behaviour didn't prove it, it was the conversation that Connor overheard on the way back to his cabin.

"...understand what you're doing. Just as long as you'll sleep, I don't have a problem with it," Zoe was saying.

"I can't promise I'll sleep enough every night, or at all, but I'll make an effort," Alana responded.

"And, just like I said, you're going to eat. I don't care how low your metabolism is. Just eat, maybe just a little, but you've gotta eat."

"That's fine. So, then, we're good now, right?"

"One more thing. I've been meaning to ask this for awhile," Zoe said, taking Alana's hands in hers and pressing them to her heart. Gross.

"Yes?" Alana asked, smiling softly.

"What are we, Alana? We kiss. We hug. We have romantic gestures, touches, we even fucked that one time... but... we're not offically dating or anything. I... I just... what am I to you?"

"Oh, Zoe. I'm... I love you, you know that."

"I do. But..."

"We can offically date, Zoe. If your parents give you grief for it, saying that we can't reproduce... we'll find some way around it, Zoe, even if we are the future of the project."

"I see. So... you're my girlfriend, now, I guess?"

"Absolutely," Alana smiled, and then...

Ew. Lip contact.

Connor decided that now was the time to make his exit, not because he might be seen, but because if he stayed, he might see... yeah.

So he turned tail and walked down the hall, away from the imminent... grossness.

He loved Zoe, but Jesus.

So back to his cabin he went, ignoring his studying that he needed to do, as well as his mother, when she called him and Zoe to dinner. If course, he knew Zoe didn't come to dinner either, and he was pretty sure the reason why was the very possible fact that she could be fucking Alana.

Which, unfortunately, was confirmed after the fact, when he got out of his cabin (or, rather, dragged) to have a talk with his dad, and she snuck by without being seen, disheveled and barefoot.

Gross.

Oh well, he got yelled at for failing the test miserably, and then by the time he returned to his cabin, Zoe was showered and heading back to her own cabin.

"Had fun?" Connor asked. He didn't quite know why he asked. Hopefully, she'd leave out the nitty gritty details.

Zoe stared into space for awhile, then at him, before responding, "Yeah."

Of course, Jared fucking Kleinman had to walk by at that very moment, wearing his shower shoes and carrying a towel, obviously heading for the showers. He let out a low whistle at the sight of Zoe. "She really wrecked you, huh?"

Zoe really gave Jared what he deserved at that point, which was a punch to the face.

Connor hesitated, but rested a supportive hand on Zoe's shoulder, who flinched, but relaxed into the touch after a moment.

"Good job," Connor praised, before removing his hand, while Klienman slunk away, clutching his nose.

Zoe turned her head to look up at him, and then smiled lopsidedly. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Connor said, and they silently decided to go back to their own cabins, ending the awkward moment.

Who knew a fucking from Alana Beck would break the boundary between him and his sister, at least temporarily?

Or, well, it might've been only for one night.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, if slightly exhausting.

Connor Murphy, as it seemed, was always tired.


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone’s lonely but also evan and jared, parents are condescending jerks, and zoe and jared set aside their differences (for the most part)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw new chapteeeeer!!!! as always, thanks so much to @ifyougiveagirlapencil for the beginning of chapter art!
> 
> tws for mentions of sex, mentions of throwing up, and mentions of death

 

Evan Hansen was removed.

Evan Hansen, as it seemed, was always removed. From the happenings on the Ainsley Smith, of course.

Sure, Alana talked to him, sometimes. But usually, it was just about assignments. His future. Her future. He knew what his future was. He would be a Marine Biologist, that was the path that was laid out for him.

His mother wanted so badly to give him a better life than this ship, which was already practically empty, eerily empty. And even though she, along with Zoe and Connor's parents and Jared's parents, ran the facility, she could do nothing. His mother was a doctor, now that most of the medical androids were gone, but it was Marine Biologist or bust for him now. Zoe would be a doctor. He would probably also end up marrying and having kids with Zoe or, good forbid, Alana.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone in a million years, but he was scared of Alana, and the very thought of having sex with her... it was absolutely terrifying, and disgusting, but that was what happened when the dating pool was so small. Regardless of the relationship Zoe and Alana had, he'd end up with one.

Biggest problem with having only five people in the dating pool? The fact that there were too many guys.

With the way things were going, Connor would probably end up with Alana (thank God) since he was related to Zoe and the gene pool was already too small, plus, it was actual incest, and he'd end up with Zoe, which wasn't too bad, but since Connor wouldn't end up with Zoe and Zoe seemed to hate Jared, Jared would likely be the odd one out.

That didn't mean Evan was happy with the situation, not by a long shot. If only the parents had had more kids. Why only five, when you're literally trying to restart a large community? Alana's parents had tried, sure, they'd had five other kids. But four died in infancy, even though there was almost no way to get sick on the Ainsley Smith.

For some reason, Alana survived. She was the eldest, but that explained nothing. Why had her siblings all died before turning three, but she hadn't?

Whatever the reason, it sure stopped any other parents from having more than one. The Murphys were an exception,probably since they already had Connor, with Zoe on the way, when the second Beck child died.

Whatever the reason, it was frankly stupid. Just one more girl, another Beck or another sibling for him, and there would be enough.

It was still incredibly stupid.

Whatever. The fact that he could theoretically end up with Alana Beck, terrifying fucking Alana Beck, or bloodthirsty Zoe Murphy. Sure, her wrath hand only been exacted on Jared and, kind of, Alana, but what happened when he and Zoe got together? As much as he was terrified, there was no other path for him to follow.

Why must they live out their lives on this floating facility, anyway? What about Yukal? Or some other planet? Evan had read about the trees and thick forests on Gurshkii, only a few Planets away from Yukal, and he longed to be among the exotic and fascinating trees of the planet. Why did they have to be the ones stuck on the Ainsley Smith? Why did they have to be removed from society in the first place to do this? Why couldn't it have been like the space stations in the old stories, where people only stayed a little while?

Why was he the one who was being exacted to a tiny dating pool, and why was his life already drawn out for him? Was it fair? Was it ethical?

And every other kid on the facility had the exact same problem.

But why?

It didn't make sense. And again, it was kind of stupid.

But at this point, the dating pool and everything else was the least of his worries.

On a ten minute break during schooltime, he took a walk down the corridors, imagining he was among the jilkwat trees of Gurhskii, when he happened upon a cracked door, and something bright and colorful caught his eye, through the crack.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly pushed the door open.

There was some sort of magnetic board, so many maps, pictures, numbers, tacked onto it, connected by red strings, all leading back to the picture in the centre of the board.

A picture of the Ainsley Smith.

He nearly threw up.

Of course, Alana fucking Beck chose that moment to walk right in.

"Did you... you.."

Alana took one look at his wide eyes and pale complexion, and sighed.

"I guess I owe you an explanation, Evan."

-

"She thinks that we're going to all die? All going to sink and die?" Jared exclaimed.

"Yeah, she... she had a whole magnetic b-board up."

"She's insane, you do know that, right?"

"No, sh-she isn't. It's... it's really well put together."

"Well put together insanity, Evan. You know she barely eats or sleeps! She's not even entirely human, Evan! She's batshit insane."

"But Jared, she's s-serious about it!"

"Evan, good grief. If you wanna hyperventilate over some fever dream Alana spun into a strange theory, go right ahead, but I'm not going to hyperventilate over it with you, I need to study."

"You never study."

"Exactly. That's how desperate I am to get away from you and your sweaty palms," Jared said, giving him a nod and smirk before walking away calmly.

So maybe Jared wouldn't listen. What about Zoe? 

Haha. Even when he was old with many many kids and grandkids, he wouldn't be able to talk to Zoe, no matter how many kids they had together.

So he didn't.

Did he maybe confide in his mom, then?

Nope. He just kept it to himself. Jared was probably already spreading it around, most likely spun into something truly insane, not like Alana's theory, which was well backed up in science, and well explained.

But Alana didn't follow up, reassure him, or invite him to learn more. Zoe, whom he was pretty sure knew about it, didn't talk to him. Connor, obviously, said nothing. Most likely, he was blissfully oblivious to the situation.

Evan Hansen, as it seemed, was always removed.

-

Jared Kleinman was lonely.

Jared Kleinman, as it seemed, was always lonely. But he hid it well with his joking.

Yes, he realised it made him more lonely in turn, because hardly anybody wanted to talk to him because of how he acted, and just general pushing people away.

And yeah, since nobody liked him, he was going to be the only one without kids, unless there was an extra girl hiding away somewhere. Evan would be with Zoe, Connor, while nobody really talked to him either, he didn't annoy people, so he was going to end up with Alana, as much as Zoe and Alana would likely protest it the day that someone finally told them that they were going to have to break up.

So he would end up a third wheel, or, well, a fifth wheel, doomed to loneliness forever. Or maybe, he could change, and they would laugh together about how much of an asshole he used to be. Uncle Jared, he'd be called, by Evan and Zoe's and Connor and Alana's babies. Truth be told, they would probably make really cute babies.

And truth be told, if it was biologically possible, Alana and Zoe would make cute babies too. But if it was biologically possible, then there wouldn't be socontroversy about it from his parents.

Don't believe him? He was eavesdropping on his parents right this moment.

"Can't they see that they're endangering the entire project on fake childish feelings? Zoe is such a nice girl, what has Alana done to her?" His mom complained.

"They're just pretending their feelings to rebel, of course, Rachel, it's perfectly normal, and they'll get over their little rebellious steak eventually. Obviously, Alana will straighten out first, most likely, and then she'll go running to Connor," his father would respond.

"Yes, but Bob, what of Jared? He acts so immaturely ad nobody likes him, so Zoe will likely go to Evan if this keeps up."

"Well, he can end up childless for all I care, he will have to deal with the consequences on his own. But besides, remember the message? He might find someone else."

"Oh, I do hope that they figure it out eventually, Bob, time is running out."

"Yes, it is, but as whack as the Alana girl is, I think she's close.”

"Well, she'd better figure it soon, or else we might end up at the bottom of the ocean with all of them."

"Well, I think after raising Jared, we deserve a moment alone, dead or alive."

His mother laughed, but Jared heard a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Yes, I think so. But Bob, shouldn't we speed things along for them? Let her see the message?"

"We ought to talk to the others first, and vote democratically."

"Yes. I'll arrange a meeting for nine 'o clock this evening," his mom said, bustling off to God only knows where.

Jared chose this moment to make his exit. Quickly.

As he retreated to his cabin, he began to wonder. Was Evan telling the truth? What had they been talking about? What was the 'message?'

So rather than doing his homework like he'd told Evan, he tracked down Zoe. Not Alana, he wasn't sure if she was the best person to talk to, though it did concern her.

She was in the main mess hall, eating a sandwich, ham, it looked like, with her back to him.

"Yes, Jared?" Zoe asked, without turning towards him.

"The parents are holding a meeting to discuss whether they should let you see something called, a message? Evan told me about your girlfriend's batshit theory about us all dying. I assume you knew about it."

Zoe turned around instantly, looking surprised but determined. "Alright. Do you know when?"

"Nine, I think. That's what mom said."

"Gotcha. We will go together, listen in on it." she said, popping the last bit of the sandwich into her mouth, standing up as she chewed.

"Why together? Aren't I just an annoying nuisance that would compromise the whole thing?"

"You said it, I didn't. But I don't entirely believe you, but then again there's not any harm in checking. Especially when it concerns Alana."

"Yeah, but maybe I should've gone to Alana. At least she doesn't have any parents to punish she happened to get caught. My parents think she's batshit insane, I don't really think they wanna interact more than they have to."

Zoe's expression turned dark. "You don't fully understand how lucky you are to have living parents, Jared. Alana was absolutely destroyed when her mom died."

"Trust me, I'd switch places with her in a heartbeat."

Zoe gave him a murderous glare, which quickly melted into something sorrowful. "No, Jared, you wouldn't like that position, from what I've seen from Alana. I think you should keep your parents in your life, just for knowing that you need parents."

"It's not like I like my parents, and it's not like they like me. And hell, Alana needs parents more than I do. I seem to remember how little she eats."

"Jared. Shut the fuck up or I'm going to throw your sorry ass into the garbage chute."

Zoe, under normal circumstances, was but a formidable opponent, standing only five feet, two inches tall, and while Jared was admittedly a little on the short side as well at 5'7, he was still taller, giving him a small edge over her. Literally.

But when she was angry... she was damn scary. Taking no shit and beating the crap of her opponent, as seen by the events for the past couple days.

"Whatever. I’ll keep the folks if you feel so strongly about it," Jared conceded.

Zoe gave him another glare, but ultimately seemed to concede as well. "Fine. Meet back here at 8:40, and we'll go down to the meeting hall together."

"One question. How? There's only one for, and you can't exactly get in without someone noticing."

Zoe smilied wickedly. "You'll see."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, thanks so much to @ifyougiveagirlapencil on tumblr!
> 
> my tumblr is @justiceforalanabeck, if you’d like it.
> 
> lastly, remember to wear your seatbelts!
> 
> ~ dev


	4. four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> discoveries are made, eavesdropping is only okay when it’s a life or death situation, and zoe and jared feel sorry for alana pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woot woot big stuff happens this chapter!! chapter art, as always, is done with the mystically talented hand of @ifyougiveagirlapencil, and enjoy the chapter!

 

"This is not exactly what I had in mind," Jared whispered, wincing as freezing cold air blew into his face.

They were crawling through the air duct system, and according to Zoe, who'd apparently memorised the air duct system and each junction, they'd end up by the vent over the meeting room and be able to listen in.

"Yeah, well, it's the only way," Zoe whispered back, pausing ahead of him to try and rub some heat into her goosebump dotted arms.

"It's just a little cold for my liking."

Zoe snorted quietly and began crawling onward. "Agreed. But again, there's no other way."

"Still would've liked a warmer eavesdropping spot."

She shushed him and pressed against the wall. Jared caught up to her, and it was obvious why she'd stopped.

Through the slits in a vent, you could see the table in the meeting room, with Connor and Zoe's parents already sitting there, pouring glasses of wine for the three who had yet to arrive and themselves.

Just a couple moments later, his own parents bustled in, followed by Evan's mom.

"Thank you, Cynthia, Larry, for bringing the wine," Heidi said politely.

Larry nodded in response, then turned to Jared's mom. "So what's this about, Rachel?"

"Well, Robert and I would like to propose that we give the Alana girl access to the main correspondence," his mom said.

"It's getting close to time for them to depart," his dad added.

"Why don't we just tell them all, and help them equip themselves for their adventuring?" Heidi pointed out. "It's simpler. I honestly wonder why we didn't do that from the beginning."

"No, I say we give Alana the satisfaction of having figured it out. After all she went through with dear Lillith being killed by us and then Eric following so soon after, she deserves this," Cynthia argued.

Heidi looked visibly uncomfortable, and Zoe noticed her twisting her wedding band around and around nervously.

"Yes, I agree," Larry chimed in.

"Well then, I believe we have a majority," his mom said.

"That was quick," Zoe whispered.

For an instant, they both froze, being sir someone had heard her, but luckily, nobody seemed to notice.

Jared's mom headed over to the wall, tapping it twice, revealing it to be a wall monitor screen. She went into a folder with Alana's card number, and tapped in something in some weird language of symbols.

"There. Now, she will know," she said with a smile. "It truly is the least we can do for her, it isn't her fault Lilith was so... problematic."

"Truly, I think it's better we got rid of Lilith before too long, if she had lived much longer, Alana might've become just the same," Cynthia added.

Zoe and Jared glanced uncomfortably at each other, but silently, unanimously elected to linger, see what else they said.

"I still don't see why David had to do it. Evan will always feel guilty that his dad killed her, and we could've just arranged an accident," Heidi said.

"Maybe. But the Ainsley Smith is practically accident proof," Jared's dad pointed out.

"No, remember the leak in the water lock that got us to this situation?" Larry corrected. "But, I do think that having her killed by David was necessary. Traumatic for the girl, perhaps, but neater."

"Well, it doesn't matter now how Lilith died, she is dead, as she should be. That is where we are. Now, I think it's about time Larry and I take our leave," Cynthia said, getting up.

"Yes, Rachel and I should be going as well. Heidi, Evan's welcome over for dinner all the time," Jared's dad said, standing up as well.

Heidi said nothing, just stared at him, before picking up her jacket and walking out briskly, leaving a trail of cold anger, as the cooling system started up again, practically on cue.

The other parents followed suit (not so angrily) and so, Zoe and Jared crawled away.

"I can't believe it. They arranged for Alana's mom to be killed?" Zoe whispered, looking stricken, crawling next to Jared as they both shivered, contrasting to the single file fashion they'd arrived there in.

"Apparently. But... we can't exactly tell her about this, can we?"

Zoe shook her head quickly, her teeth chattering. "Absolutely not, Jared. I will throw you into the water lock if you say a word to anyone."

Jared nodded. "I know. I'm not that evil. I might make jokes about it, but what she went through.."

"It broke her. It's why she's how she is today. It's why she doesn't eat, it's why she's depressed, why she doesn't sleep. I mean, yeah, most people go through it eventually, but it hit her so suddenly, with something so terrible... sure, she's trying to get better, but if she knew... she could do something stupid, Jared."

"I know. I won't say anything, I promise."

Zoe nodded. "Good. Now, what do. think the message thing is all about?"

"Honestly, I don't have a single clue."

Zoe reached the vent they came in through first, twisting it off easily and climbing out, slowly sliding down the wall with her back on it to a sitting position, relaxing in the much warmer air. Jared came out a moment later, and he silently took the vent from her and set it back in place, before sliding down the wall to join her.

"What're we gonna do?" He asked quietly.

Zoe shook her head. "I don't know. But look, I'm sorry for how I've treated you."

Jared nodded. "I'm sorry for how I acted towards you, too. I was an asshole."

"Yeah, but so was I. Let's... can we start over?"

"Definitely."

Jared Kleinman, as it seemed, wasn't so lonely anymore.

-

Predictably, Alana, right after school two days later, grabbed everyone before they could leave.

"Guys. I had a breakthrough. It's serious. I have to tell you guys all about it," she said.

So everyone reluctantly followed her down to her room, and stood around the board.

"So, tell us, Alana, I don't have all day," Connor grumbled.

Alana took a deep breath, and began to talk.

"The Ainsley Smith. We live here, fated to take the places of our parents as farmers, scientists, and continue the mission. Right?

But... something just doesn't make sense. Research has continued, thanks to our parents. It's not like we're all just sitting around doing nothing. They have discovered all sorts of new species of fish, plants, and chemicals. And yet... when was the last time you heard about someone contacting Control with these discoveries?" Alana asked.

"Is that a serious question?" Connor asked, looking somewhat disinterested. No, scratch that, not somewhat. Very disinterested.

"Yes, Connor, I'm seriously asking. Because isn't that the whole point? Make discoveries, report to Control. That's the reason the Ainsley Smith was created. To inform the Corporation of discoveries in the ocean. And, to do that, you contact Control."

"Well, then, you should just check the correspondence logs between the Ainsley Smith and Control," Evan said.

"And that's what I did. I didn't even think of it until yesterday, but... it's not... guys. You've gotta see this."

Alana didn't wait for and answer and turned to the wall at the left, pointing a remote at it, and soon, you could tell that it was a wall monitor display, left at the top of the Ainsley Smith to Control logs.

AS: TEST ONE

C: POSITIVE

AS: TEST TWO

C: POSITIVE

The correspondence went on that way for a bit, and as Alana sped up the scrolling speed, all you could see were reports, and Control responding with a confirmation of receival and the same message of thanks each time:

C: THE CONTINUED RESEARCH OF THE AS IS MAKING THE CORPORATION A MUCH BETTER PLACE TO LIVE. OUR THANKS TO THE INHABITANTS.

This message was used each and every time, except, of course, the video message from Ainsley Smith, the human, not the facility. On the fifth anniversary of the launch, which was also the day they’d transmitted the news about the existence of dark areas.

Dark areas, they were black holes in the ocean that latched onto objects and slowly pulled them in, and how to track them. To reward them, she put on a high-necked powder blue dress, smiled behind a podium, her ginger red hair and green eyes shining, telling the crew how amazing they were, how much of a breakthrough this was, and how treasured they were.

But that's just how the messages were, down until the Virus, when research stalled to fight it, and then, of course, through the Murders. But then... why was there no message from Control, asking if they were okay?

And after their grandparents resumed the work and started sending reports again... no confirmation or form message from Control.

In fact, Control said nothing, until one message, thirty-four years ago.

C: THE AINSLEY SMITH, ON THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY 19 OF MONTH APRILIS, HAS OFFICALLY BEEN DECOMMISSIONED. OUR THANKS TO THE INHABITANTS. YOUR WORK HERE IS FINISHED. REMAIN ONBOARD, AND DO NOT PANIC.

That was all.


	5. five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you can be done hanging off the cliff, alana is tired of everything, and futuristic ocean research societies can’t clean bloodstains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws for mild gore, past murder, gunshot wounds and guns, and implied ptsd
> 
> chapter art is done by @ifyougiveagirlapencil on tumblr, this week’s art says so much with so little and it’s freaking magnificent

"We... the... the Ainsley Smith was decomissioned?" Zoe asked slowly, like she was afraid of the answer. This was genuinely surprising to her.

"And thirty-four years ago," Alana confirmed.

"How did we not know?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know! And that's the thing. We didn't know, and our parents sure don't know, why do you think they're still working?"

"But if they're not sending the reports..." Zoe trailed off, deciding not to mention to her how the parents most definitely knew about it.

"Maybe they just can't message Control?" Evan suggested.

"But then, they would've seen the message. So it comes back to the question of why they're still working," Alana pointed out.

"Maybe they don't know another way of life. Our grandparents sure didn't."

"Exactly. But when the message was sent, our parents were probably too young to realise. And they decided not to tell them, which I'll bet is because they were scared. Scared that maybe.."

"Our parents would get violent," Zoe finished.

"Yes, exactly. Like another round of Murders. Or something like... like what happened to my mom. But I decided that that was unrelated to all of this."

"But then, how did our parents not see it?" Connor asked.

"What if the main correspondence was blocked for their access cards?" Connor suddenly piped up, suddenly interested.

"Exactly!" Alana said. "That must be it. But then, the question becomes, why can I access it? Why isn't it blocked on my card, too?"

"Did they... did they want us to figure it out?" Evan questioned. Zoe and Jared simultaneously inwardly cringed.

"Maybe. So, I figured, there must be something missing to the equation, going back to the question of why the Ainsley Smith was decomissioned in the first place. Because building this? Was expensive. And people loved the idea. Why decomission it, after only six of the twelve generations intended were completed? And then I found this."

Alana turned back to the wall monitor and clicked a button on the remote. The screen switched to a map. There was a black circle a bit off of a red X, with a path for the X in black dotted lines.

"The X is the Ainsley Smith. The circle? A dark area. A black hole in the ocean. You know what this is, we discovered it, or, well, our ancestors did. Well, we are in it’s grips, and we are about four months away from it."

Evan and Zoe gasped, Connor paled, and Jared covered his mouth with his hand. Sure, Evan and Zoe had been told about what Alana had been figuring out, but this... She hadn't said anything about this.

Alana took a deep breath, steeling herself, and then continued.

"The dotted lines are the path there. We've been in the grips of this dark area for almost thirty-five years. And with dark areas, you know there's a twenty day period on average before you're fully in it's grasp."

Alana paused for a moment, sucking in a shaky breath.

"You know who discovered what dark areas were in the Yukalian ocean? The Ainsley Smith. You know that. You know who gave the Corporation the ability to predict, track, and further study the dark areas? The Ainsley Smith. And you know who could've told us we were about to be latched onto by a dark area? Control. Subsequently, the Corporation!" Alana raised her voice, and her glasses fogged somewhat as she struggled to keep her composure.

"The Corporation knew about the Virus. Knew about the Murders. Because people escaped, they swam away. We know from the trackers we used to have in our clothing that they all made it, all but two, and we think they simply destroyed them, anyway. They had to have told Control! They had to! You can't just show up on the beach, sopping wet, and not expect to be asked what the fuck happened. So they knew that our abilities to pay attention to the ocean weather patterns were low. We had other things to deal with. And yet. And yet. They didn't tell us. Why abandon such a popular, such a fruitful, such a successful project? They could've warned us. And we could've steered clear of it. Or, maybe they didn't see it. Which is impossible. Pretend that for a minute, though."

"Alana-" Zoe began.

"No, Zoe, I'm talking," Alana said, cutting her off. "Look. Even if they hadn't seen it. Even if the dark area had taken control of the Ainsley Smith, they would've been alerted. It's impossible that they weren't somehow alerted after the fact. We literally designed technology for Control to do that. And surely, even if there was no way to save that facility, they would rescue us, right?"

"Wouldn't they?"

"Exactly. So, I looked at every possible thing that could've happened. They couldn't have run out of funding, we fund ourselves, the facility has been paid for over and over. Could the Corporation just be uninterested? No. No way. Not when we were making such big breakthroughs. Even if work slowed after the Virus and the Murders. In fact, they should've sent reinforcements. But they didn't. And finally, finally, I figured out why."

Alana took a second, breathing deeply and rubbing her eyes behind her foggy spectacles.

"Guys. Yukal... Yukal is abandoned."

Everyone was silent.

“That’s... that’s not possible,” Zoe stuttered out finally. “How can it be abandoned? We’re all still here.”

“The maps are outdated. When I looked at weather maps to figure out the dark area... there’s nine islands, varying in size and a medium sized area of land. So, roughly fifty miles worth of land, altogether. That’s it. That’s all that’s left.”

Alana punctuated this statement by clicking the remote and changing the screen to a satellite map. Sure enough, all that was left were a smattering of islands where more land once was.

They all stared in disbelief, for several minutes, actually. Because they needed some time to process all this overwhelming information. The bountiful land they’d all been taught about from birth... so much was gone.

“I can’t believe it,” Connor gasped out finally.

“What do we do now?” Jared asked.

Alana shook her head. “We have to leave. That’s the only thing that’s certain, here. The only questions that remain are if - and what, if so - our parents know, and how they’ll react. Because they can’t leave. One step outside and their immune systems will be overrun with viruses they can’t fight. I’ve studied the medicine my grandmother created, it most definitely also protects our immune systems.”

Zoe and Jared glanced at each other. They knew exactly what their parents knew, and, what their grandparents had known, why the medicine protected their immune systems. Should they tell her?

No. Not now.

“How... h-how will we l-leave?” Evan asked.

Alana took a deep breath. “Well... the only way is if we swim.”

-

They’d told the parents. And... they’d responded defeatedly, but encouraging them to leave as soon as possible, swim to land. So, they started forming a plan.

The oxygen tanks that the divers used lasted ten hours. The suits were climate controlled, so hypothermia was not an issue. The only issues? Changing the tanks, and exhaustion.

“We can reach an island in probably about nineteen hours if we don’t stop swimming, and yes, we’ve all been trained to swim and have high endurance, but I don’t think we could last that long,” Alana explained. “It’d be more like thirty hours if we rested.”

“What about using a raft? A lot of them were used during the Plauge and the Murders, but I know for a fact that we have at least two onboard,” Zoe suggested. “Plus, there’s likely more stashed away somewhere onboard.”

Alana shook her head. “We can anchor them and use them to rest in certain areas, but there’s too much debris in the ocean. We’d be cut to pieces.”

“So then, what’s the trouble with the tanks? We don’t necessarily have to wear them the entire time, and either way, we won’t waste them while we’re sleeping,” Jared pointed out. “Also, does the thirty hours include sleep time?”

“No, I think we’ll go faster underwater, plus, then we can spot debris before it hits us and not drown or be impaled as a result, so tanks and masks will need to be worn all the time. The changing issue is that putting them on takes a long time and it’s difficult when your fingers have been submerged for so long, even if you had been resting for a couple hours before trying to change it.

Some of the rest areas I’ve found are a lot out of our way, so yes, thirty hours doesn’t include rest time. With rest time, depending on how much we sleep, we’re looking at about fifty to sixty hours.”

But what more could they do than suck it up and get ready?

So that’s what they did. It only took two days to prepare everything, but they waited. Spending their final moments with their families. Reminiscing on events that took place on the ship.

And Alana went to see her mother.

Well, technically, her mother was in a casket at the bottom of the ocean, with her father. No, she went to the spot where she’d been killed, a spot she’d avoided like the plauge ever since.

She came wrapped in a brown blanket, draped like a cloak over her, but it couldn’t soak up the deathly chill in the place before it hit her at full force. She ignored it.

It was a corridor, the walls were painted white and it was lit so brightly that the white looked slightly fuzzy, like any other corridor. It was about twenty feet wide, and it was on Floor Six. Cabins hadn’t been built on this part, because enough were built in other parts of the floor, as well as Floor Five. It was simply the passageway to another section of cabins.

Alana knew this hall like the back of her very hand. She stepped into one spot, and she remembered how she stood here, stunned as Evan’s father began to fire at them, and then she’d been on the floor, and then crawling over to her gasping mother. Shot in the head. She barely lasted a minute.

There was a faint reddish spot, still there, where the blood had stained the floor. No matter what anyone did to it, it wouldn’t come entirely off. And now, it never would.

Unless, of course, the ocean washed it away over time as the crumpled remains of the Ainsley Smith were tossed around aimlessly, for as long as time went on, in the dark area.

Maybe her mother’s casket had already been sucked in there, and that meant it had been crushed and obliterated.

Smaller objects came to dark areas quicker, and the fact that it was full of water only furthered the evidence to support that notion.

Alana knelt down and touched the faint spot, closing her eyes and trying not to think.

When she opened then again, her mother was there, filling her lap with warm, sticky blood and so much more dripping to the floor, her fat dreadlocks bloody, her face bloody, her very eyes bloody.

She closed her eyes, and now, her mother and all the blood were gone. She stood, wrapped the blanket tighter, more firmly against her, feeling the gentle weight of a hand on her shoulder, and silently, numbly, she walked away, hearing the click of her mother’s heels doing the exact same thing, but brisker, and she was walking the other direction.


	6. six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sadness, and a whole lot of swimming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *triumphant trumpet noises; again we have a striking piece from @ifyougiveagirlapencil and at this point im not sure how much more amazingness my body will be able to take before it shuts down*

And one day, they all woke up and realised that today was the day. The day that they had to leave everything they’d ever known and try and make themselves some sort of life on whatever was left of Yukal.

Evan hugged his mom once every five minutes, Jared grudgingly hugged his mom and dad at least four times, more than the past ten years of his life combined, Connor giving his mom a side hug and his father a nod, Zoe hugging her parents once an hour, and Alana... Alana hugging herself sadly, wishing her mom were here, and at the same time, glad she wasn’t, because then, she’d have to leave her, and that might be harder than having her abruptly ripped from her.

But between the hugging, crying, and solemn looks exchanged, they finished packing their waterproof backpacks full of generally non perishable food, pulled on their scuba suits, helped each other put on the tanks and big, awkward helmets, and locking the backpacks on their backs, then the deflated rafts, rolled up, clicking into place on top of the backpacks.

They looked awkward, so weighed down with supplies and rafts and their huge, equally awkward air tanks, waddling around in skintight suits and flipper shoes.

Finally, though, the whole congregation took the elevator down to Floor One, hugged one last time (Connor finally hugged his dad, and Alana hugged Heidi, who was sympathetic to her but obviously somewhat uncomfortable. Of course, though. Her husband had killed Alana’s mom, so it was natural for her to be uncomfortable,) and blinked away tears as they climbed into the little room in the floor one by one, behind the water lock door, and swam out when the other door opened, exposing them to the cold ocean.

Alana volunteered to go first, so the others could have last moments with their parents, and she could help anyone who needed it.

So she stepped into the little room, folded herself up to let the door close behind her, and swam out a couple feet after the ocean had poured in when the other door opened. She knew that when it closed, it’d drain off the water and then open the other door for the next person.

As she waited, she experimentally tapped the screen of her new wrist computer twice. It was under her suit, protected by it, and she could see and touch it through a clear area that started about four inches above her wrist joint and ended at the joint. It was specifically made for the purpose of using wrist computers under it.

The computer’s screen turned on, thankfully, and she tapped thrice now, turning it off. She didn’t need it right now.

Connor came next, then Evan, then Zoe, with Alana helping her when her flipper shoe caught on the door and embracing her once she was securely in the ocean, and Jared came last, also getting his flipper shoe caught on the door.

Once everyone was out, they watched the door close. They wished that it’d open again, that the parents would welcome them back in, tell them it was just a joke, that there was no dark area, they hadn’t been decommissioned.

But it wasn’t a joke, so they exchanged more solemn looks, and began swimming, not single file, but in a horizontal line, with Jared at one end and Connor at the other.

They swam for hours and hours, dodging debris and floating rocks before finally reaching a clear area, indicated on the map on Alana’s wrist computer.

They surfaced and floated as they unhooked their rafts, unrolled them, and pulled the strings, instantly inflating them.

They turned off their tanks and removed them, as well as their backpacks and helmets, before climbing up and laying down on their rafts, emotionally and physically exhausted, and taking quiet notice of the unchanging grey sky, caused not by clouds, but simply the general colour of the sky, so different from the blue they’d been taught about.

Alana weakly proclaimed that she was setting an alarm to go off in three hours, and fell asleep just afterwards. Everyone else was either already asleep or soon was.

They woke three hours later to a burning sun shining down on them. Their climate controlled suits were built to withstand the cold of the sea, not the heat of the sun, but at least, if not for the unbearable heat, they wouldn’t have gotten up, most likely.

But they did, and they packed up and sank into the ocean once more, continuing to swim.

This same process repeated several times. They slept less each time, but had harder work of being able to wake up. They were all tired and grumpy, and they needed to get to the small island Alana had found before the ocean’s monthly ‘menustration.’

Not actual blood or uterus lining, more like the various coral reefs flushing their chemical toxins, which the ocean would process and turn safe. But when it was first flushed, it’d seep through their suits and kill them within nineteen hours. So, avoiding it was probably a good idea.

So they went faster, swam more each day. And when the ocean grew cloudy, one especially cold day, they figured that the end was near. The days before had been foggy and visibility had been awfully low, another sign of the coming flush of the metaphorical toilet.

Until Evan rammed right into something hard, going at full speed, and his helmet cracked.

He immediately swam upwards, breaking to the surface as water was reaching up his chin. The others followed him upwards, confused and tired.

When he looked around, he realised he hadn’t hit debris, but a island. It was right there! Finally, perhaps, they could actually sleep, maybe.

The others were similarly relieved, and they quietly made the short swim to a beach of thin white sand, collapsing onto it.

Alana and Connor didn’t even bother removing their helmets or stopping their oxygen tanks before falling asleep, right where they’d dragged themselves up to on the beach.

Zoe quietly stopped her girlfriend’s tank and removed her helmet before curling up near her, her own tank stopped and helmet removed already, and Evan did the same for Connor, but without tenderness or the love Zoe had put into such a simple task, more like pity, and he fell asleep a safe, platonic distance away from him. Jared simply dealt with himself and fell asleep right where he was.


	7. seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> semi-magical happenings that have no place in a sci fi fic, fighting, and a very salty zoe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for eating disorder, some descriptions of violence, and mentions of depression/ptsd
> 
> chapter art, as always, done by the downright magical @ifyougiveagirlapencil

 

Zoe didn’t know how long it’d been when she woke up, but the sky was black, and the water lapped quietly and slowly, emitting a bright green glow that produced, obviously from the chemical flushing. It was the main light source at that moment, apart from the faint glow of the moon.

Everyone was a safe distance away from the shore, so she wasn’t alarmed about anyone getting sick.

She sat up and looked around. The beach stretched out, and the island seemed to be circular, so she saw beach until she couldn’t see around the curve. Behind it, was a jungle, a mess of trees and plants, that they’d trek through the following day, or, depending on what time it was, maybe later that day.

She shakily stood, legs still adjusted to the sea and not solid ground, and walked to few paces to the edge of the ocean and knelt before it, less than an inch separating her from the now toxic liquids.

A coolness came off of it, and a strange smell. It wasn’t a good smell, but it wasn’t bad, either, and either way, Zoe found herself intoxicated by it, the scent drifting around her, changing slightly, constantly, still not getting any better or worse, but more intoxicating, making her head light, filled with the insulation fluff that had fallen out of the ceiling once, back on the Ainsley Smith.

She saw something out of the corner of her eye, and turned to look.

In broad daylight, though she still knelt in darkness, was Alana, standing stock still as strange green orbs whizzed past, looking stricken and terrified.

One of the green orbs struck her leg, and she collapsed, but was still obviously out of it. Zoe stood up to go and help her.

Next thing she knew, she woke up, still in her spot curled up near Alana, who still slept soundly. A few feet away to her other side, Jared did the same, and a few feet away from Alana was Connor, then Evan.

The sky was lighter now, and the green glow is the ocean wasn’t so visible. When full light came, it’d likely be fully washed out, but for now, she could still kind of see it.

The ghost of the scent from the night before lingered still, though the effect wasn’t so powerful now. It was muted, quiet, a small exhale rather than a strong but steady breath, stretched out in thin strings.

She wasn’t fully convinced that it’d been real, rather than a simple dream, a vision, perhaps, though those were only in the ancient myths, such as the one of Joan M’Lady, the woman who heard God and lead a mythic military to victories against people called English, and was then captured by them and burned on a post on top of the Parliament building.

But she was still tired, so she scooted closer to Alana, wrapping her arms loosely around her, tucking her head into the space between her neck and shoulder, waiting for sleep to cast her away.

The next person to wake was Jared, when full light had come. He quietly opened up his backpack and found a small metal tube of biscuits, small, circular crackers, a little bigger than his thumbnail and with a height just two centimetres , that apparently supplemented for a healthy amount of food, at least, according to his parents.

They weren’t very good, too crunchy, bland, gritty, and yet so small, but he did find himself feeling mostly full after polishing off half the tube, so he capped it and put it away as Zoe began to stir.

She opened her eyes and looked around experimentally before sitting up, and nodding to Jared in greeting. They were both still groggy, so speech was still a little out of reach for them.

Zoe slowly unhooked her backpack and found a tube of biscuits for herself, twisting off the tiny cap and struggling to fit her finger in to pull out one. She gave up, eventually, and tipped it upside down, emptying a few of them into her hand.

She popped them into her mouth just as Alana and Evan began to stir, and made a face, crunching loudly and swallowing with a wince. Jared laughed, and she smiled weakly.

“Gosh, do we really have to eat this crap?” Zoe complianed, in an obvious morning voice.

“For now, it’s better, because we need to ration out food, Zo. We’ll eat something a bit easier to choke down for dinner, maybe,” Alana responded, sitting up and rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.

Zoe scooched over to her and side hugged her. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Lana.”

Alana pecked her on the cheek, and smiled wanly. “We’ll need to be moving soon, within the hour, high tide is coming, and the beach won’t work for us much longer. We need to see if the jungle is safe, and if not, if there’s any other options.”

Jared nodded, and Zoe frowned. “Do we really need to start so soon, Lana? We’re all tired.”

“I know. But what other options do we have? Sit here and let the chemicals kill us slowly?”

Zoe considered telling her about her weird dream, but decided against it. “I guess. Look, Evan’s waking up.”

Evan did wake, and he stared up at the sky blearily, confused. Where were the white ceilings of the Ainsley Smith?

Right. He wasn’t there anymore. He hadn’t been there for days.

He sat up and picked at the neck of his scuba suit.

Connor, for his part, was still sound asleep and silent, and obviously wouldn’t be woken naturally for at least a little while.

Truthfully, they all wished they could be like Connor. Still asleep. Really, they could all use more sleep, but they didn’t know much about this island, about the dangers that might be lurking near, and they couldn’t live on the beach forever, in their scuba suits. They needed to find some sort of better shelter.

So, Evan and Jared were instructed to try and (gently) wake Connor up, and Alana and Zoe went into the jungles with their backpacks to go change into more comfortable clothes.

They decided to wear plainclothes, meaning plain pants, and a plain shirt (Zoe wore her usual purple and Alana her usual dark-ish blue.) Lastly, there was a thin grey cardigan made of the same material as the pants, and boots.

They didn’t try to make small talk while they changed, but they didn’t bother turning away from each other, either. Why should they? They’d seen each other naked plenty of times.

But Zoe’s concentrated expression as she pulled the still-wet sleeves off, turned to horror as Alana, bent over, rolled her own suit down her chest.

She noticed quickly, and stopped, looking up at Zoe, confused.

“You... Alana, your ribs... I could play them like a piano, honestly. Alana, good god...”

Alana stood up and looked at her, in an expression that Zoe couldn’t read. “Zoe, honey, I...”

“Don’t you understand?” Zoe snapped, cutting her off. “Alana, you said you’d... that you’d try to get better. You lied to me.”

“I tried, for awhile, Zo, I really did. But... I couldn’t... I’m not...”

“You’re not even sorry,” Zoe choked.

“Zo, baby..” She stepped towards her and outstretched a hand, trying to touch her girlfriend’s cheek comfortingly, but she slapped it away before it could even get there.

Alana looked at her with eyes full of hurt and shock.

“You betrayed my trust. Not only that, but you’re putting everyone in danger by being like this. What if you faint suddenly, and we can’t wake you up? What if you get too tired to keep going? What if... what if you just shrivel up and die?”

“I’m not a raisin, Zoe,” Alana responded, voice lacking emotion. She turned around and continued to roll down her scuba suit.

Zoe, for her part, wasn’t taking any of this, and grabbed her by the shoulder, whirling her back around to face her.

“You’re not even sorry! Why can’t you admit, for once, that you did something wrong?!”

“Hey, maybe I tried! I really did, Zoe. But guess what? There’s this thing called trauma, and thanks to that, I’m depressed, I have a major eating disorder, but guess what?! I can’t help it. Maybe my mom getting shot in the head and dying in my lap left me with some scars. Who knew?!” She began to laugh, bitterly.

“It’s not my fault your mom died, Alana.”

“And it’s not my fault, either!”

“Well, maybe you should’ve tried harder, gotten over yourself.”

Alana stared at her like she’d been slapped. She even touched her own cheek.

But she didn’t say anything. She continued to roll down her scuba suit, pulled it off entirely, and got her plainclothes on, before grabbing her backpack and boots and storming off, barefoot.

Zoe felt no remorse. Alana needed to admit she was putting everyone at risk, that she was being selfish.

Still... could she really help it? She had really had her mother die in her lap. The only other person in the room had been Jared’s mom and, of course, Evan’s dad, but he was dead now, anyway, and Jared’s mom hated Alana’s mom, anyway, she hadn’t nearly been close to her as Alana had been.

And she’d seen the security tapes. It was gory, disgusting, scary, and it’d given her nightmares for weeks. But that must be nothing, compared to what Alana must’ve experienced, definitely still experienced to this day.

But then again. She really could’ve tried harder. Or asked her for help. She would’ve helped.

Feeling confused and unsure what to think, Zoe finished dressing and headed back to the beach, following the path that Alana had trampled down.

Alana wasn’t there, but neither was Connor, and according to the (dressed) Jared and Evan, he’d been heading off to get dressed, himself, when Alana had come back, and volunteered herself to be his buddy. They all did agree, being alone in a place they didn’t know, wouldn’t be the best idea. They didn’t know what was here.

They did come back after just a little while, and Zoe and Alana proceeded to ignore each other. Alana devoted herself to coaxing everyone to get off their butts and get moving, with her at the front, of course, clearing the path, and Jared and Connor next to each other, and Zoe and Evan walking next to each other.

Zoe didn’t care that everyone was staring, and she didn’t care that they were confused, that it was obvious that they were fighting.

She didn’t care, so she just hooked her backpack onto her back and paired up with Evan, silently beginning to walk through the jungle.


	8. eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a nice walk in the jungle turns into a friendly meeting with a creature nobody is familiar with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WEEK’S CHAPTER ART BY @ifyougiveagirlapencil IS SO COOL IM GONNA DIE

The jungle was heavily forested, with roots criss crossing in a giant web all over the damp, black soil, red flowers dotting the areas between, plenty of feathery plants of medium height, with leaves black on one side and green on the other, and trees obscuring the sky, with thick, damp trunks, so wide that you couldn’t wrap your arms around it and hold your hands. The leaves were long and droopy, with shorter leaves near the top, standing almost straight up, and all of them were black on one side, green on the other. It was all damp, it smelled nice, and it was... quiet.

Almost too quiet. No birds chirping, lizards and bugs skittering around, no animals, no bugs, nothing.

Yes, it was definitely much too quiet.

And Alana, obviously, had also figured that out. But she didn’t have on a neutral poker face, like Zoe. No, she had her brow furrowed, and it stayed furrowed, as she cleared the path for everyone else, obviously not quite there, and was deep in thought. 

And she stayed like that, for awhile, until she gasped, wide eyed, out of the clear blue.

“Would you like to share your amazing, ground breaking revelations with the rest of the class, Alana the Genius?” Zoe snapped.

She didn’t care that everyone stared at her like she was crazy, and that Alana looked hurt.

So she just stared. They all stopped walking, and the girls stared each other down.

“Well? You gonna tell us, or should we stay in the dark, just like everything else about you?”

Oddly enough, Connor, of all people, was the one to step between them.

“Listen, you two. I don’t know why you’re so angry all of a sudden, but knock it off. This is a life and death situation, this isn’t the time for fighting.”

Alana looked at him, gratefully, and Zoe hated it.

“Well, you’re one to talk,” Zoe chimed in, and though Connor looked strained, he... didn’t take the bait and start yelling. He kept calm.

“Look, Alana, just tell us, ok? And then let’s get moving again.”

“Yes, tell us why your brow was so furrowed for an hour and a half, since only geniuses furrow their brows, makes em look smart.”

“Zoe, can it,” Jared said between clenched teeth.

Alana sighed quietly. “Well, we all can tell that there isn’t any wildlife in this jungle. And I think I figured out why.”

She didn’t wait for anyone to ask what it was. Why bother?

“The plants here, they’re obviously also participating in photosynthesis, nor just the trees, but every single plant, and they’re obviously taking on a lot of dirty air, pointing to the conclusion that the destruction of the planet was largely the fault of the inhabitants and wasteful practices. At any rate, they’re taking on a lot, and we’ve measured the toxin levels in the ocean before, there’s definitely more than the ocean life can flush out on its own. So, these plants must flush toxins as well. They store the toxins in their leaves until they flush, likely, at or near the same time as the ocean. In that case, they must be flushing soon, and a lot of those toxins will be breathable, which, in turn, can kill us, since there’s no ocean to protect our lungs from it.”

Zoe began a slow clap, and this time, it was Evan who gently pressed down on the back of her hands, prompting her to quit it, which she did, grudgingly, and instead crossed her arms.

“So, then, let’s go. We’ve gotta find a clearing of some sort, apparently. A vast prairie to frolic upon while the jungle flushes its dear, sweet leaves all squeaky clean.”

This time, nobody told her to cut it out, and it was silent for a bit, until Alana sighed again.

“Well, from the way the toxins seem to be balanced in the plants, there should be a clearing somewhere. They take on more to one side, and it piles up there, rather than be correctly and equally distributed,” Alana quietly explained, and so, they all silently gathered up their backpacks, discarded during the stop, and kept on walking.

-

After another couple hours of walking, the jungle was exactly the same, neither thinner nor thicker around them. They’d stopped at one point to wrestle some biscuits out of their backpacks, and they all noticed that Alana hadn’t yet opened a single tube of the stuff, but ate half of her tube, just like the rest of them.

But now, as they kept walking, they began to hear things. The rustle of leaves, though there was no wind. A crunching noise. A strange noise, akin to breathing in deeply, but through a nose none of them wore, a nose that obviously had some blockage. Congestion, perhaps, and none of them were congested.

And then, someone saw it. Nobody was exactly sure who saw it first, but soon, they all did.

A creature unlike any they’d ever seen. It was at least ten feet tall, as thin as their tubes of biscuits, if not thinner, all a somewhat transparent foggy white colour.

A black strip of material that they couldn’t identify was tied around what seemed to be the middle of its torso, and attached to it, there was a long, cylindrical black sticklike object, about four inches wide, with a curved handle near one end, and a trigger on that handle.

It had eight legs, like a spider, all as thin as that long torso, that split into three pieces at the top.

Two were arms, coming out of a place where there should’ve been a neck, and at the very top, a head, oval shaped and at least two feet tall on it’s own, with huge black eyes, no whites, many, many noses just below the eyes, and no lips.

Alana at that point had counted thirteen noses; Evan counted eleven, and nobody else was counting at that point. They were too dumbfounded by the rest of the creature.

At any rate, all the noses were arranged in a wide circle, taking up the bottom half of it’s face. It’s eyes took up the entire top half, the circle of noses took up the rest.

And it was breathing, so loudly, some noses breathing in while others breathed out, and a whistling sound emitting from each nose. They twitched in their own as well, and a clear substance dripped out of a few.

Now, they all knew about aliens. The Corporation hosted over one hundred races, humans in their various forms across many planets were one. Other humanoid races, too, and non-humanoid races.

But they’d never been taught of this alien, and at that point, they weren’t sure if it was alien or... something else.

Alana walked towards it slowly, cautiously, pausing only to wrench Zoe’s hand off her arm, ignoring Zoe’s eyes pleading with her not to approach, no matter how angry she was with her.

She held out a hand to it, and it began to outstretch an arm, and it seemed to head for her face. Everyone was silent, and she didn’t budge.

Then, just as it had almost reached her face, the arm, formerly lacking hands and ending in a stump of some sort, seemed to grow fingers instantly, and they were long, sharp, and meanacing.

It reached out, faster, now, and tried to claw her in the face.

She ducked before it could blind her or harm her seriously, but one finger caught on her cheek, and she cried out as she stumbled backwards, pressing a hand to the wound as blood seeped between her fingers.

Connor grabbed her other arm, and dragged her along as he began to run, run away. Alana followed. She quickly matched his pace, and eventually let go of him. The rest followed. They ran quickly, still dodging the web of roots on the ground.

They heard the crunching still behind them as they ran, and knew it was following them. Whatever it had had on it’s back, it could be a weapon. just like it’s fingers.

And they were all afraid of what it might be.

So they ran.

They ran for so long that their legs complained.

They ran for so long that they couldn’t even think anymore.

They ran for so long that they weren’t even sure why they were running anymore.

Until Alana skidded to an abrupt stop, now again at the head of the congregation, and they all stumbled over each other to try and copy her.

She was peering around one of those long, droopy leaves, and as they all crowded around her to follow suit, they saw why she’d stopped.

There was a clearing of land, with no roots or trees or flowers, just grass. It stretched on for so long that they couldn’t be sure how far it went.

Right snack in what they assumed, no, hoped was the middle, there were two rows of targets. Square, made of thin, smooth light grey metal that didn’t shine, at least as tall as the creature that they’d just encountered.

The targets stood on their own, and the two rows were arranged in a way that it was like a long box or corridor, in the middle of the field, but without sides to close it completely. And, the first ones were less than three feet from the edge of the jungle.

But the problem was, for every target, there was one of those creatures, about ten feet away from the targets, all firing long guns in unison. Clearly, that was what the weapon around the creature in the wood’s torso was.

The way they all did it in unison was... scary. They fired, stood stock still for exactly ten seconds, and then fired again. They fired in unison on one side of the targets, and fired in unison on the other side. One side fired during the ten seconds the others waited.

The things they were firing, they were green, glowing balls of light, probably lasers of some sort, and they didn’t penetrate or mark the targets in any way.

Finally, at one end of the field, behind the creatures to the right of them, there was a long, black building. One level, but tall, for them, anyway. There was no fence protecting it, and they could make out nine, wide, tall doorways on the side they could see. It seemed virtually unprotected.

They couldn’t hear the creature behind them anymore, but it did seem to move slowly for the most part. However, they all knew, it’d catch up to them soon enough.

“So... what... w-what do we d-do?” Evan whispered.

“Well, we could go up to them, try to make peace. The other creature might’ve been overly angry, these ones might be more willing to be peaceful,” Alana suggested, also whispering.

“But that thinking works the other way around, too. That might’ve been the most peaceful of them, and these ones are clearly doing target practice, they could get more agitated and cut us down. Or not even see us because they’re so tall, and cut us down unknowingly with their guns. They’re like androids, how they do everything in unsion,” Connor pointed out.

“Well, if we don’t want to interact, we still have to get past them, somehow,” Alana responded.

“What if we walked between the targets? They’re taller than us, so we’d be concealed, and since they’re at least as tall as the creatures, they won’t see over,” Jared piped up.

“That could work,” Zoe said.

“Yes, but I’m still for trying to negotiate. This, too, is dangerous,” Alana put in.“What if the creatures are taller than we think, or their necks can extend, and either way, see over and see us? Trying to sneak around them is worse than at least trying to negotiate.”

“Well, let’s put it to a vote, then,” said Zoe.

“Fine, then,” Alana said. “All in favour of negotiating, raise your hands.”

She raised her hand, but the only other one who did was Evan.

“All in favour of getting past them, now raise your hand.”

Alana and Evan’s hands went down, and Connor’s, Jared’s, and Zoe’s went up.

“It’s settled, then,” Alana said, no malice or pleading in her voice. If this is what the majority of people wanted to do, then, they’d do it.

They waited until the left side was paused for the right to fire, and darted into the roofless shelter of the shields. One by one, they came in.

Finally, Alana, the last one left, came in, and they all began to walk. They walked briskly, silently, single file. They didn’t touch the shields, for fear of them coming down, or feeling the fire from the guns as it hit, and potentially getting hurt or discovered. They didn’t know how intelligent these creatures were, they could also potentially sense their hands or bodies behind the shields if they touched. But so far, they didn’t seem to be using echolocation or the like, so they just kept walking.

The walk seemed to never end. Whenever they thought maybe, just maybe, they were nearing the end, it turned out to not be it.

Alana had just hissed quietly that they’d been in there now an hour, when they all heard a creaking noise, and the next thing they knew, the targets were being lifted up, and Zoe was face to face with one of he creatures, holding a target.

The creatures, startled, backed up in unison, holding the targets like shields, until some of them dropped their targets, but not all, and those who did, lifted their guns.


	9. nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a lot of shit happens.... and somehow this isn’t quite yet the climax. or is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> art by @ifyougiveagirlapencil on tumblr, she’s growing in power guys send flowers for my funeral

Evan recovered from shock first and grabbed a target and held it up, deflecting the first shot.

The creatures broke their creepy acting-all-together and the next thing they knew, all the creatures were shooting at them, the green balls whizzing by, one grazing Jared as he darted for another discarded target.

They were light, though hard to handle because of their height, and Zoe and Jared stuck together behind a shield, Connor grabbing another himself and starting to run, Zoe and Jared close behind him, and Evan beginning to follow but stopping to start manuevering the unwieldy slab of metal to deflect shots in the other direction, not just absorb them.

And Alana?

Alana just stood there, silent, as glowing green balls whizzed around, and then, she wasn’t on the field anymore.

Her brain seemed to short circuit and she was back on the Ainsley Smith. She was fourteen and she and her mom were walking down a corridor together. They'd just returned from Lilith showing her around her office.

"I don't want to be in the office, Mom. I wanna be the one who goes into the ocean and swims with the fish for hours," Alana was saying.

Her mom laughed. "I'm sure you could do that, but you'll also end up in an office, most likely. You're a bright girl, you'll find a way to make it fun."

Alana opened her mouth to respond, but suddenly, shots rang out.

Lilith immediately shoved her daughter to the ground, but seconds later, Alana saw her mother fall, about fifty feet away.

"Mom!" She shouted. Everything was moving so fast, it was so loud and bright and -

Alana bolted up to run in her mother, feeling bullets whiz by. Blood, so much blood, she couldn't breathe, she pulled her mom's head onto her lap but she didn't respond, and then she felt something warm on her leg and it was moving so fast and it was getting brighter and then darker at the same time and -

"Alana! Alana! Can you hear me?!" The voice sounded so far away and everything was overwhelmingly loud and she felt something grab her from her middle and it was too much too much she tried to get them off why wouldn't they come off

And then they did, and she felt something prick her neck, and she started groping at it and fighting it but her arms were pinned down and her mom was gone gone gone so warm and loud

And then there was nothing.

-

The others escaped, without incident. And the only one who knew about Alana was Evan. The rest hadn’t dared look back, for fear of being caught off guard by a creature.

And now, he’d finally caught up to the others. They had found a cave, it seemed, and they were putting up some sort of a door of protection over the opening, using the shields.

But when he was spotted, there was a dangerous shift in the air, and Zoe’s eyes widened when she saw Evan, alone.

"Where's Alana?" She shouted, stalking up to Evan with her eyes dark and murderous, anger at Alana all but forgotten, now redirected at a new target: Evan.

He looked at the ground and shuffled his feet, and then Zoe stopped in her tracks, eyes wide and scared now.

"Is... she can't be.."

"I d-don't th-think she's... that she’s dead. But she f-froze back there, a-and she got... got shot, I th-think three times?I couldn't get to her i-in time. One of... one o-of them stuck a n-needle in h-her neck and... a-and I think it kn-knocked her o-out. They took her a-away after that. I c-couldn’t get back... couldn’t help her, the c-creatures were blocking m-my path.”

"Oh my god. Evan... she must've had a flashback. I... so you think she isn't dead?"

"I'm n-not one hundred percent sure, but... but, I think she's a-alive."

"We have to get her back," Connor said.

Zoe nodded quickly. "Of course. We should start making a plan."

"Didn't Alana make all the plans up until now?" Jared asked.

Zoe wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands. "Well, Alana isn't here, so we have to," she said, then turned to Evan. "Evan, where did they take her?"

"The black building."

"Specific location there?"

"No. I h-had to r-run."

"Well, they must keep prisoners in a certain section. So we go in and figure out where she's being kept and get back out. And it needs to be soon. They might know about her flashback and have some sort of drug that enhances it, or she might be bleeding out or-"

She was cut off by Jared placing a hand or her shoulder. "Zoe. Calm the fuck down. If you want to get Alana back, we've got tokeep from panicking. Especially you."

"Jared... I can't be in charge, either way. I'm too attached to her," Zoe said.

Jared nodded. "That's fair. Connor, Evan, one of you, maybe? I know you don't want me running this operation, either."

Evan shook his head, and Connor hesitated, before speaking.

"I guess we don't a choice, huh?" He said.

Zoe nodded. "You'll be a good leader, Connor."

"Okay, so, let's come up with a plan together," Connor said, grabbing a stick and beginning to draw in the dirt.

-

They'd elected to strike early in the morning, when they'd least expect it, and so, Zoe and Jared were sent to bed while Connor and Evan took first watch. But Jared knew Zoe wouldn't actually sleep.

He'd planned to stay awake and watch her, talk her into sleeping at some point, or comfort her if she started crying. But exhaustion had gotten the better of him, and when he woke up, Zoe wasn't there.

Luckily, she wasn't very far away, just outside of the cave, sitting with her knees at her chin, staring at the grey building in the distance, almost invisible on the darkened island.

"You know, it's dangerous out here," Jared said. Zoe didn't turn around, but held up a knife that had been out of sight but presumably next to her.

"I don't care," Zoe murmured, almost intelligible.

"Zoe, please, if you want Alana back, you really need to sleep," Jared said softly.

"I should've been there. I wasn't too far away. We could've gotten Alana. Evan could've covered me, I could've picked her up and ran. And... the last things I said to her... I was so angry over something I should’ve been helpful or pitying of.”

"Jesus fucking Christ, Zoe, you were busy. You had to fight off those people around you on your own. And you know what? You’re allowed to be angry sometimes. Don't start this guilt. It's not gonna get you anywhere."

Zoe turned to him, eyes watery, reflecting the light from the twin moons and the stars, such bright stars. "I still could've been there, Jared. Emotionally and physically."

"No, Zoe, you had no choice. Stop blaming yourself, or I'll beat your ass. Get back in here and get to bed.

Zoe didn't move.

Jared took the few steps up to her and picked her up, bride style. She didn't protest or fight him, and let him lay her down on her leaf pallet.

Jared was about to head back to his own pallet, but stopped when he heard Zoe speak. Or, well, choke out words, anyway.

"I miss her, Jared. So much. And my parents. They're gonna be dead in a couple days and we all know it. And Alana's hurt. She could be in a lot of pain, or having flashbacks, or dying, and thinking about how the last things I said to her were so mean. If she's not already dead. I just... I wanna hold her. Hold her and smell her hair."

“You’ll get to do that. But you need to be strong. For Alana.”

“For Alana,” she agreed. Then, quieter, “Thank you, Jared, so much. I used to think that you were just an annoying prick, I used to beat your ass when I should’ve just shrugged it off, but now I find... you’re really not that bad. You’re a really really good person, actually.”

Jared snorted. “I’ll take that. Just go to sleep, okay? The more you sleep now, the less you’ll be tired while you’re stuck on watch duty with me later.”

Zoe nodded and snuggled down as much as one can, in a bed of old leaves, hair splayed out like a halo, and let sleep carry her away.


	10. ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rescue mission yay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woop woop give @ifyougiveagirlapencil applause, applause, and your goat sacrifices, people. alpacas work too.

Just a couple days ago, they’d all been on the Ainsley Smith. They’d all been together, even with their parents. Well, some of them, anyway.

And now, they were in a cave, with a makeshift door of a ten foot slab of metal, and they were going to go save Alana Beck, the girl that once was considered an annoying nerdy girl with a tragic incident in her past. And now?

She is their leader. Or, was. Or, temporarily, (hopefully) not.

For now, Connor was.

And now, they dressed, cleaned up as best as you can in a cave without utilities, went over the plan one last time, and began to walk.

-

And where was Alana?

Truth be told, she didn’t exactly know. She didn’t really know anything, if the truth is truly told.

She knew her name. Alana Beck. She was on an island on Planet XX02, Yukal. Or, she had been, anyway.

How old was she? Fourteen, maybe, she was positive, she hoped, she thought she was fourteen, but she couldn’t be sure.

Her mom was Lilith Adelaide Beck. Sometimes people called her Ada but mort of the time she was Lilith.

She was on the great ship Ainsley Smith. A research facility in the oceans of Planet XX02.

Her mother was over there, red on the shiny white floor, and Alana reached for her, but she melted away, and she felt something cold.

She looked down, and she was bleeding. She was bleeding so much. So much red.

She felt everything go black again.

-

To say that Zoe was concerned right now was a sad, sad understatement.

Apparently, during his third watch shift, Connor had gone out to scout out to see if they’d have cover for a route to the building. And as it turned out, they did. The cave wasn’t exactly out in the open, it was in another jungle, or, well, a continuation of the other one, and apparently, a few outer facilities that they could use as steppingstones to the main building were almost at the edge of the jungle.

And Zoe yelled at him fiercely and hysterically when she found out. Never mind that Evan was now trying to sleep. Never mind that right now.

Zoe was fucking livid, and she screeched and screeched and cried, until Jared and Connor made her sit the fuck down and be fucking calm.

“I’m not hurt, Zoe, and I didn’t get caught. And this is good, because we know how we’re getting there tomorrow. So shut up or we will get caught,” Connor snapped tiredly.

So she’d shut up.

But she was still concerned. Because now they’d begun their brisk walk to the buildings, and Alana was in there. Suffering.

And she couldn’t do anything right now.

She wanted so badly to run, to run until her lungs burned, run until she could scoop her up and hold her, tell her that everything was going to be okay, that she was safe now.

But she wouldn’t even be the one to rescue Alana.

As Connor’s plan went, she and Jared would pair up and go try and see if the creatures had any spacecraft, and if so, to steal it and meet Evan and Connor, who would, hopefully, have Alana by then, and be smuggling her out as best they could.

They planned to use some sort of object, like a cart, maybe, to disguise themselves. Hopefully, the creatures had automatic moving trash cans or something, because they’d stand out visibly, like white against black.

And Jared and Zoe, while searching for a spacecraft, would also disguise themselves in automatic equipment or the like.

And if they got caught? Well, for Evan and Connor, the objective was to find Alana, and the objective would still stand. If they already had her? Run, get out of there.

For Jared and Zoe? Have a spacecraft? Great. Use it to get out of there, and try to pick up Connor and Evan at some point. No spacecraft? Well, if they were right next to one, take it. If not? Run.

They didn’t have wrist computers like Alana, but they did have tiny communication chips to help them stay it touch, with automatic skin adhesive attaching to the pinnas of their ears. And they picked up the faintest of whispers, so all someone had to do was tap the circular chip, whisper, and when finished, double tap.

And they did have weapons at the ready now. A fighting knife, sheathed and hung on the belts on their waists, just like the one Alana always carried, except, of course, Alana had a pocketknife, not a six inch fighting knife, at least, not attached to her belt.

So they were all set now. Hopefully. They still didn’t know how intelligent the creatures were, or the extent of their power, strength, and the rest.

When they reached the first building, they quickly, quietly, tested their communication chips one more time, checked the knives at their waists, and entered through a side door, just inches from the edge of the jungle.

This building was tiny, and it contained nothing but a circular hole in the middle of the floor, about ten feet wide, and no creatures. A label, in a language none of them knew, helped them as much as you’d expect.

Connor hadn’t gone in here last night, he quietly explained. Just to the edge of the jungle. So who knows what that hole lead to.

But what choice did they have? It was that, or sprint a good thirty or forty feet to the next building, which was bigger and likely had creatures in it and already had at least ten milling around in front of it, or go another couple thousand feet to the big building, and they knew that Alana probably wouldn’t be being held there. Or, she might be. But it wasn’t worth the risk to check at that moment.

So Zoe sat down on the floor, at the edge of the hole, and lowered herself in.

She fell down, down, and they heard a large clatter down there.

About ten feet below them, Zoe had landed, on her butt, hard. But as she slowly stood, nothing seemed to be broken, bruised, or scraped. The hole had been smooth, and it hadn’t lasted long, probably just about four feet before she’d dropped from the ceiling

She’d dropped into a hallway, stretching out a long, long way, but only a few feet behind her before ending with nothing but a wall. There were no creatures, it was totally empty.

But the walls were white, the floor was white, and it looked like the Ainsley Smith.

She sighed and yelled up.

“Nobody’s down here! Come down, we’re good!”

Next down the hole, after some brief bickering that she couldn’t quite fully make out, was Evan, then Jared, then Connor.

They dusted themselves off and began to walk down the hall.

About thirty feet, maybe more, they found another hole, the same size as the one they’d come down, and they could hear movement.

It was dangerous, but they had go check.

Wordlessly, Zoe was boosted up by Connor, standing on his shoulders to look up the hole.

Her eyes barely cleared the floor, What with the high ceilings, but she saw plenty.

Five creatures, milling about. The walls were covered in gadgets, something out of one of those ancient movies from the 1970s, called War Stars or whatever. Fighting Stars? She forgot.

But no Alana.

She shifted her ankle to tap Connor on the neck with it, prompting him to let her down.

When they were back on solid ground, Zoe whispered to keep walking, and when they were a safe distance away, she told them of her findings.

They merely nodded and kept on.

They walked for what seemed like forever, until they found another hole. From how far they’d come, it was clear that this must be the big building, so now, they’d have to split up.

Still, Connor boosted Zoe up again to check, and she confirmed, it had to be the big building. But whatever part they were going up into, there were no creatures around, so Zoe climbed up, and helped pull up Jared next, then Evan, and finally, Connor had to jump up and get Jared and Zoe to grab his arms or something quickly. It almost resulted in them both being pulled back down with him, but once they had him steady, he used the hole to climb up with his feet, and joined them.

They were in a dark room, and as they searched around, they found...

Dumpsters! Full of... fluff? Insulation? Whatever. The dumpsters seemed to be automated, and the bottom and sides opened up in holes of varying sizes to let out the cargo in varying amounts.

Zoe used the holes to get in, swim through the fuzz a couple feet to reach the front wall, opened up some small holes to see, and two more, to stick her feet through and propel the dumpster forward.

She spoke through the communication link. “Likely, you’ll want one at the front and one at the back, both propelling with their legs, and keeping watch. I’m at the front, Jared, get to the back.” She instructed him on which holes to open, and soon, the two groups parted, pushing shiny silver dumpsters full of white fuzz through a pair of double doors, and splitting up.

Zoe took a deep breath and began to look for things looking like maybe, they could lead to some sort of hangar.

It was up to Connor and Evan now.


	11. eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the marvel movie worthy chapter that the past few chapters have been leading up to, and a bunch of people die while their children try to keep someone else from dying.

Power had gone out a few days ago.

It was constantly dark, and the only thing you could see out the windows was swirling murky water in the crisp blue ocean, slowly getting darker and darker and overpowering the serene blue.

Everyone was on Floor Seven. No more work, they just watched movies numbly in the theatre 30 hours a day, nine days a week. Ignoring the fact of their impending mortality.

And then, it happened.

They heard a sickening crack from above them, and a slow creaking noise.

When they heard it, were in the middle of a movie about a homophobic policeman who was always a slab of garlic bread and now his wife had to deal with the realisation that she’d fucked a piece of bread and had children with the bread, and now had a half-bread daughter named Cecile. Very trippy, seven hour movie, but deeply touching.

But they’d never finish that movie. They’d miss the famous scene where the wife got drunk and fucked the garlic bread policeman and got pregnant again, and since abortions were outlawed on Planet 07X6 (Lanial) she ended up birthing a full on bread spawn.

Because the next thing they knew, there was a huge snapping sound, and the whole place was crumpling like a crushed can around them.

Cynthia closed her eyes and began to silently chant Igaqarian death prayers, while Larry hugged her and didn’t let go.

Rachel began screeching and crying and rambling incomprehensibly, while George kinda just folded his arms and closed his eyes.

And Heidi? She cried. But inside, she hoped and hoped and prayed that Evan, Alana, Zoe, that they were all alright. That they were okay.

They had to be okay.

As the walls closed in around her, her last thought was of Evan as splitting pain shot up her whole body.

She smelled the salt of the ocean, and smiled, thinking of Evan enjoying it when he was just five, with her and David, in scuba suits, laughing and swimming.

Then everything went black.

-

Evan wasn’t in the ocean. He wasn’t five, he wasn’t laughing, but he had found Alana.

After hours upon hours of searching, dodging the seemingly oblivious creatures in the halls, they’d found her. All that they had needed to do was tap a small touchscreen on a door, and it’d slid open, revealing a room, painted all black, that couldn’t have been more than nine feet wide.

And there, sprawled out on the floor, with a fair amount of blood, too, there was Alana.

Unconscious, unresponsive, but alive.

“But w-wait, how are... how a-are we getting her o-out? She might... m-might suffocate in the fluff,” Evan pointed out.

“Working on that,” Connor said, looking around the room. It clearly wasn’t a cell, it honestly looked like a storage closet hastily halfway cleaned out. There were broken pieces of the targets from yesterday, or at least, the same kind. He picked up one particular piece, about five feet high.

He carefully slid it into the dumpster, right by Evan’s end of it, effectively creating a dam, one that allowed fluff over the edge, but it wasn’t water or anything, so it’d be fine... once he cleared out the area it blocked off.

Connor crawled under the dumpster and after a few misfires, opened up a particularly large hole under the blocked off area, giving him a face full of fluff.

In a different situation, where he wasn’t crouched down next to an unconscious girl, trying to figure out where the bleeding was coming from, Evan might’ve laughed.

But he especially wasn’t laughing when he found the source of the blood.

Her right arm, in her forearm. She’d been shot, and since it was some sort of laser or electronic ammunition, there was nothing anyone would have to remove, thankfully, but it had been almost a full day since the injury and it was still slowly draining blood, when, if it had actually been a laser, it would’ve cauterised, but neither of them had time to hypothesise about the type of ammunition.

Luckily, it was just a thin but steady trickle of blood at that point, but that didn’t mean much with the amount of blood on the floor right now.

Evan quickly took off his jacket and tore off a strip of fabric, pressing it to the wound.

“Should I a-apply a tourniquet?” Evan asked.

Connor didn’t respond until he had finished clearing out the fuzz, then crawled back out and looked over at the wound.

He sucked in a breath. “Good god.”

In his ear, Zoe’s panicked voice met his. “Connor, what’s wrong?”

Connor hadn’t realised his communicator had been on, but he tapped to respond. “We found Alana. Shot in the forearm, probably about a class two hemorrhage.”

“Get her out of there,” she choked out.

“We’re trying. Have you found a spacecraft?”

“Not yet, but from the pictures on some of the signs, I think we’re close.”

“We’ll start to move. Goal is to get to the original tunnel.”

There was a gasp from Zoe’s end. “No, bring her right out front. We found something.”

“Don’t kill yourselves trying to operate it. Good luck.”

“Don’t kill Alana. Zoe out.”

Connor looked back at Alana pensively. She still even had her wrist computer on, none of her clothes had been changed, she didn’t even have bonds.

Maybe the creatures had just been scared of her, not intent on killing or torturing her. Or they just didn’t understand what she was.

He patted her cheeks, in an attempt to wake her up, but she didn’t stir as Evan applied the tourniquet.

When it was firmly in place, Connor double tapped the screen of Alana’s wrist computer, while at the same time, easing it off her wrist. The screen lit up.

“It’s 12:37. Remember that, Evan,” Connor said quietly, gently picking Alana up and beginning to try and ease her into the dumpster from the top.

Evan jumped to help, climbing back in through the bottom and helping to lower her in.

He carefully settled her against the side wall of the dumpster, covering her in what was left of his jacket.

Connor climbed in, holding the wrist computer tightly. Through the communications link, he told Evan, “Alana accidentally took a scan of the place at some point. Might’ve been the creature’s skin bumping it. But now, we have a map to get out. I’ll continue to prompt you on when to turn.”

Evan nodded, realised that Connor couldn’t see him, and simply said, instead, “Understood. Let’s g-go.”

And as they careened down the hall, Alana began to stir, slightly, and she opened her eyes halfway and stared, obviously not fully processing what was going on around her.

Evan continued to keep the dumpster moving, but smiled comfortingly at Alana.

“You’re gonna be okay now,” he said quietly.

She struggled to speak, but eventually, managed to get a two words out, “Everyone... Zoe...”

“Everyone’s okay.”

With that, she faded back into unconsciousness.

Evan quickly grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse. Still there. But weak.

“How close are we?

“Hopefully close, but I honestly-“

Connor cut himself off and the dumpster stopped moving entirely.

“What? Connor, what is it?”

“Get in here, now!”

Zoe’s shrill voice wasn’t coming from the communicator, but from somewhere else.

Next thing he knew, Connor’s face appeared in a hole in the floor right next to him.

“Give me Alana. We’re here.”


	12. twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the part where it’s really Star Wars-y, plus a really annoying character who deserves more screentime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> art by @ifyougiveagirlapencil!!!!

Evan jumped to complete Connor’s order, gently picking her up and sliding her out, into Connor’s waiting arms. Somewhere outside of the fluff, he heard gunfire.

“Connor! Evan! Get her in here!” That was Jared, not as shrill and frantic as Zoe but definitely at least somewhat frantic, and he was shouting through the communicator.

Evan slid out after Connor, finding himself climbing out from the dumpster on grass and dodging a creature as soon as he stood up.

Connor was running up an extended ramp on some sort of spacecraft, Alana in his arms. The ramp was almost five feet off the ground, and the spacecraft was higher, hovering over the ground.

Zoe was standing at the top of the ramp, armed with a gun and actively firing at the creatures, not trying to hit them but trying to scare them off.

He pulled himself up with his forearms, and just as he’d gotten one leg up onto the ramp, he felt something on his leg.

He looked down, and saw one of the creatures had a grip on his other leg, the spider like fingers wrapped around tightly, cutting off his circulation.

He barely managed to hit the button on his communicator as he struggled against it. “One of them has me by the leg!”

“Hold on, Evan,” Jared responded, and the ship jerked up and down rapidly, and he hit his head against the ramp, luckily not enough for him to pass out, but pretty hard. Nevertheless, the creature stayed attached.

“It’s still there!”

“I got you, Evan,” a voice spoke softly, almost too softly to be heard, from above him.

He looked up, and saw Alana, still dripping blood, offering her hands.

He didn’t have a choice. He grabbed on and she pulled.

His other leg had slipped down when Jared had jerked the ship around, but he got it back up pretty quickly, and then got his chest and torso up. Still, his leg stayed in the grip of a creature.

Once he was as up on the ramp as he could be, Alana steadied herself, told Evan to grab her leg, and then dipped herself upside down off the ramp, stopped from falling down only by Evan holding one of her legs.

He watched carefully, ready to pull her up or assist, but she seemed to have it under control, punching the creature in the face and using the distraction to pry it’s fingers off Evan. She nearly got pulled fully down as it regained focus, but somehow got the last finger off and began to pull herself up, shouting for Jared to pull up the ramp.

Evan relayed the instruction to Jared, adding to fly higher, and he did, leaving the creature a speck on the ground, with the rest of them, as he pulled his leg up, and then grabbed Alana’s good arm and pulled her up.

Together, they struggled against the whipping wind to Zoe as the ramp folded behind them, and Alana had only barely managed to grab Zoe by the shoulders and collapse as Evan similarly collapsed next to her before the ramp closed.

-

Evan had woken up within a minute, and found Connor and Jared in the cockpit, and also found that they were in a low orbit around Yukal now.

AKA, in outer fucking space.

“Once Alana wakes up, we think we’ll just vote on what to do. We found coordinates to several other planets stored here,” Connor explained.

“They didn’t find them, I told them about them. And what the planets are like. I’m very thorough,” a crisp voice with a strange, unplaceable accent piped up.

Jared rolled his eyes. “That’s Electra. She’s an artificial intelligence in the ship.”

“I speak every language in existence, and languages that don’t exist anymore or yet. I also host the largest database of the galaxy to date.”

“So, this is a Corporation ship?”

Electra’s crisp electronic laugh was... slightly creepy.

“Honey, I don’t quite know what Corporation you’re talking about. The American Corporation is dead, if that’s what you meant, but I doubt you meant such. If you meant the Corporation of Galactic Mining, that’s still a no, but-“

“The Corporation doesn’t exist anymore?” That was Connor.

Electra sighed. “It fell almost fifteen years ago. Yukal and several other planets had been long abandoned already, this had been a long time coming. CEO Jiaxal Keekaj was assassinated in a bombing, along with the Vice CEO, the First Partner, and almost the entire cabinet and Congress. Ola Qui, congresswoman, tried to hold the strips of the Corporation together, but ultimately failed and it fell. Now, the entire galaxy is in a devastating economic recession.”

Everyone was silent. And stayed silent, until Electra cleared her electronic throat.

“Anyway. Would you like to exit this orbit and go somewhere before the Nasuhi follow you out of the atmosphere, or are we still waiting on Alana? Because it’ll be awhile.”

“Well, we need to make sure we can give Alana adequate medical attention from here,” Connor said.

“I can carry on up to 200,000 billion separate conversations at a time. Currently I am instructing your sister, Zoe Aðalheiður Murphy on the medical care for her girlfriend, Alana Esmae Beck.”

“Wait... how did you...”

“I’m a computer, Connor Adelredus Murphy. You told me your first names, and after searching my vast database, which, was a very brief search with your very unusual names, and I found the rest of your names, parents, and siblings. The rest I got from context, body language, the like.”

“That’s... slightly creepy.”

“I was once a Corporation entity, I have access to far more of the Internet than you ever have or ever will. For instance, I can tell you that your second name is of German origin, and it means ‘red haired noble person.’ You were named after Adelredus Heghop, first Board Member of The Committee of Oceanic Industries. Your sister was named after Aðalheiður Mikkelsen, first female CEO of the Corporation. The name is of Faroe origin, and it means-“

“We get it, we get it.”

“I would be happy to continue explaining your names if you so wish.”

“I do not wish for such a thing.”

“Well, your sister is done administering medical attention to her girlfriend, and she is heading for this room.”

Right on cue, Zoe walked in, looking tired, the cut on her cheek still fresh and untouched.

“If I were a physical being, I would’ve forced her to treat the cut she has, but she refused.”

Zoe glared at the ceiling.

“Miss Zoe Aðalheiður Murphy, my core is not located in the ceiling. Mr. Connor Ad-“

“Please stop calling us by our full names.”

“Alright, Murph-“

“Electra.” Zoe snapped, her voice as crisp as the computer’s. “Please address us by our first names only.”

“Fine. Now, Connor, tell Zoe Aðalhe-“

“Refer to us by our first names only or I will remove your core from this ship and crush you in garbage disposal before ejecting you through the plumbing lock.” Zoe was at the end of her wits, and didn’t really have the mental capacity to deal with a computer smart enough to find a loophole in her statement.

Electra huffed. “Good. Now, are you and your merry bunch of adventurers planning to stay in orbit forever, or would you like to go elsewhere?”

“Alana should get a vote.”

“She’ll be unconscious for at least the next twelve hours. By that time, the Nasuhi will have dragged you all back to the surface.”

Zoe sighed and slid down the wall she’d been leaning against, pulling her legs to her chest and burying her face in her knees. She didn’t move, or speak, and neither did anyone else.

Finally, after a good three or four minutes, she slowly stood. “Alright. Where can we go?”

“The planet that shall be safest for you un-evolved humans shall be Planet 668X, or Sørgae. Very nice, small planet, sometimes chilly, but nothing your weak bodies cannot handle.”

Nobody had the energy anymore to protest, so Jared just asked, “Is there anyone else on Sørgae?”

“Yeah, some scattered pockets of other species. You’ll fit right in, a lot of them have evolved on their own on the planet.”

“Well, should we vote?” Connor asked, turning around in his seat to Zoe.

“I suggest that after you are done that you treat the various cuts and scrapes that you’ve acquired, including Zoe’s cut, and then go to sleep. I will be your autopilot while you travel at light speed.”

“There doesn’t need to be voting,” Zoe said slowly. “Jared, do you wanna go there?”

Jared nodded.

“Evan?”

“Yes.”

“Connor?”

“Sure,” he shrugged.

“Zoe, do you want to go?” She asked herself, triggering weak laughter.

She scooted over a few inches and smiled at where she’d been standing. “Yes, Zoe, lets go there. Oh and by the way, I love your hair, still looks great after being whipped around in the wind.”

More laughter.

Then, “Alright. It’s unanimous. Electra?”

“Preparing light speed charge and routing.”

After a few moments, the instruction was to buckle in, and then everything streaked by them and they blasted into light speed.

It was beautiful.

Zoe felt in her heart, somehow, that this might be her calling. She had the whole universe at her fingertips.No longer was she confined to the Ainsley, forced to work in oceanic professions only or start cooking.

“Now, for the love of all that’s holy, go wash up!”


	13. thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the really unsatisfying and short ending, but hell, it’s kinda cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really sad guys.... nobody actually read this but my partnership with @ifyougiveagirlapencil is coming to a close... let’s have a round of applause just for her.

Zoe climbed into the bunk right over where Alana still slept. She looked peaceful, right then, just tucked away in bed, sleeping. And finally, Zoe could rest knowing that she was safe.

She burrowed herself under the blankets and felt the bandage now on her cheek. It felt like a second skin, so different than the bandages that they’d had back on the Ainsley, which had stuck like plaster to their skin and been generally uncomfortable and difficult to remove. This, she almost didn’t notice was there.

The bunk room they were in had four bunk beds, each with two bunks. Rather, they were bolted to the wall. She was on one wall with Alana, and all of the boys had taken advantage of the fact that they could all have a top bunk and claimed them for themselves.

It was blissfully quiet as everyone let their guards come down and fall asleep. As annoying as Electra was, she wouldn’t let them die. Yes, she was technically a stranger, er, a computer that they’d never... met? before, but somehow, Zoe knew to trust her.

When she drifted off to sleep, her dreams were green and wispy, showing her a life among the stars with Alana, as a deliverer of food, drink, for the black market. A life running from the law, being relentlessly pursued and still be the freest people in the world.

Or maybe it was just prophetic.

At any rate, her dreams did float away, and though she had to wake up, the memories lingered, and she knew that whatever she was experiencing with these green mist dreams or whatever, it wasn’t going to fade away like any other dream.

The best part about waking up, though, was Alana’s face peeking up from the railing, smiling widely.

-

Alana had woken up feeling a little sore, but the lightheadedness had significantly receded and was almost nonexistent. She only remembered blurs after pulling Evan up (a strange electronic voice, the feeling of bandages going on her skin, the brush of quiet lips against hers, a thin, sweet taste going down her throat.

At any rate, the medicine on this spacecraft was amazing. Truly, there had been great advances in medicine while they’d been tucked away on Yukal.

And then, she realised, Zoe was sleeping above her. She heard her snuffling and remembered that night where Zoe had begged her to sleep, just sleep, and she’d snuck out to get back to work.

She brushed away her guilt to be discussed some other time, maybe, and stood slowly on the edge of her bunk, gripping to the railing on Zoe’s, and peeking up.

She was just beginning to stir, and clearly, she hadn’t showered before she’d fallen asleep, so she smelled... terrible. As did she. I mean, it’s kinda hard to bathe someone while they’re only half conscious, if even that, so she didn’t blame her for not getting her clean.

As Zoe opened her eyes and realised that Alana was there, Alana’s lips curled into a smile.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

They spent the next thirty minutes in the shower. They shared it, and they washed each other’s hair, washed themselves and each other, and just talked. About everything. About how Alana was going to really, actually, make an effort to get better now. How Zoe would try to control her temper. About the ship, about where they were headed, about Zoe’s dreams, which Alana found intriguing.

“Well, before we decide to start being black market dealers, let’s see this planet, at least,” Alana had said.

Their future was uncertain. Would they stay on this new planet, find another ship and become black marketeers, or... or what? They had the universe at their fingertips. They could do anything.

But right now, they were safe, finally, and that’s what was important.


End file.
